


Down

by renrut1402



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff with Angst, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Paranoia, a lot of awww and AHH moments perhaps, a lot of this is in adriens pov but we get some mari too, adrien has heavy nightmares, also a lot of annoying obliviousness, but u gotta read to know, ladrien, marinette is also the cutest person alive, maybe some smut, mentions of gore, shit gets crazy maybe, so keep that in mind, u know - Freeform, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-06-25 20:04:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15647994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renrut1402/pseuds/renrut1402
Summary: Living in the shoes of top model and secretly world renowned hero of Paris, Adrien Agreste, can be taxing. Exauhstion, hours of work without breaks, constant akumas and coming home to a dark house and eating at a table alone for 19 years can become tiring.His routine is wearing him down.That is until he runs into an old friend who he hasn't seen in a while.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first story here and im doing my god damn best so lets hope this doesnt turn out so shitty :)

I.

He's running.

He feels his eyes burn with what felt like acid.

Fuck he was going blind.

His lungs are on fire as he bolts away from.... Well he doesn't know what the hell he's running from. He just knows he has to get out of there. Fast. 

He can't transform. He can't speak. 

He's....

He's drowning in it.

 

He won't. 

 

He can't breathe.

 

He can't.

 

He feels his screams ripping through his throat. It tears his vocal chords and rips through his chest but the sound falls deaf to his ears as he claws his hands around, trying to grab onto something, anything. He's drowning and needs something to steady him. 

He shouldn't. 

A red, leathered hand with familiar black polka-dots reaches into the darkness, into whatever's trying to end his life and he strains his limbs from trying to reach up and grab on.

He hears sobbing as he finally latches his hand onto it's wrist and awaits for them to pull him up. To cease the suffering and the overwhelming amount of fear that pulses through his veins like lightning.

And then the sobbing stops abruptly. The world is quiet and the hand refuses to give him the refuge he desperately needs.

'Pull me up!' he yells to the mysterious person, his voice breaking.

Laughter.

Manic laughing. Terrifying, booming, deafening laughter is all that fills his ears in the moment. He begins to feel his heart pound against his rib cage as he tugs at the hand, the darkness beginning to swallow him up limb from limb. 

Then silence. Everything comes to a screeching halt. No noise, no pain, nothing. Sheer and utter relief drowns out all his senses as he breathes deeply.

Then a light and feathery voice pulls him from the previous hysteria, painfully blue eyes focus on his face as he blinks up at her. 

'Oh, Adrien... How could I help someone like you?' he finally hears the voice say, his eyes blowing wide as she grabs his hand from her wrist, her grip painful as she finally holds him above the large and endless black pit beneath him. No. She wouldn't do this. Not to him or anyone for any reason. 

He felt his wrist breaking under the punishing hold of Ladybug's hand over him and he looks at her with despair and fear. 

She won't.

She begins releasing her fingers one by one, starting with her pinky, and each time her finger left contact with his skin, he would slide down further. 

She can't.

Her laughing becomes inhumane almost, tears spilling from her eyes as she howled and... cheered for his demise. His death.

She shouldn't.

She finally let's go and he sinks into the dark quicksand and disappears forever while she begins to scream his name.

———————

"Adrien! Wake up!" 

Adrien woke up like he normally does. In a cold sweat, heart thrumming and nerves on high alert. The dark room around him does little to help with his situation as he tries to breathe his way through the aftermath of the nightmare. 

"Geez, kid, you look like you just shit yourself." Plagg stated, his small black body hovering over Adrien's nose, his green eyes the only clear thing able to be shown in the dark room.

Adrien sits up and rubs his face while Plagg looked over him in dismay. The black cat zips over to one of the lamps that was currently occupying his old white desk and Adrien sighs in relief at the small amount of light pouring into his space. 

"Kid, listen. I know we agreed not to say anything about the... the uh..." 

Adrien was narrowing his eyes at Plagg, and his kwami swallowed trying to ponder the best possible replacement word for this predicament without making his chosen become defensive. 

"Sleeping habits. But, even if I'm terrible at showing it, I'm worried about your health. Maybe you should go and see a doctor about this or something." 

The blond sighed heavily as he ran his hand through his hair, "This isn't something I wanna talk about right now." He said and his kwami breathed out, annoyed by his behavior.

Ever since Adrien's nightmares came about, he always insisted on not talking about them. He never shared what happened in any of them and he never brought it up. He never spoke about getting help or ever even acknowledged them enough to figure out how to face the problem head-on. He simply.. endured them. Plagg had noticed that they weren't as spaced out as they used to be either and watched as they plagued his chosen almost every night. 

"You know you're gonna have to talk about it sometime." Plagg stated with a roll of his eyes and with that he ended the conversation and flew over to the small portable fridge to begin his daily and never-ending feast of camembert. He loudly hummed in content and threw up the stinky cheese before catching it in his mouth and swallowing it whole, causing the blond to make a disgusted face as he chewed and moaned out happily. 

Adrien laid back down, his head hitting the soft mountain of pillows as he stared at the ceiling, dread filling his body with every passing second. He rolled to his side to try and find comfort but to no avail, so he laid on his stomach, then his right side, then his back again and back to his stomach. He finally decided on laying on his left and closed his eyes, waiting for, hopefully, a dream to wash upon his tired and worn-out figure. His skin felt sticky with sweat and his head hurt but as minutes began to fly by, he finally felt his restlessness get the better of him and he finally relaxed into the bed. He stretched his legs out, evened his breathing and-

Then his alarm for his 7 am photoshoot rang out, signaling for him to wake up and prepare for a long day of sore cheek muscles and endless posing. 

He could just call in sick, pretend to have a fever and try and get some well-earned rest today but he knows his father wouldn't without having someone watch over his every movement somehow, so with a groan he turned off his alarm and swung his legs off his queen bed in disappointment and resentment. 

All in a days work for Adrien Agreste.


	2. The One With References

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically a whole lot of i couldnt wait any longer as an author

II.

"Yes! Yes! Oh gooood yessss!" He moaned from behind the camera as Adrien winked, a painfully fake grin spread across his face as he began to unload the next ten pictures into his camera roll.

His new photographer for American Eagle was oddly vocal about how he liked certain poses Adrien would choose or different and "new" pictures he'd capture of his client. He tried not to let the man's slightly annoying noises distract him from the task at hand and took all his years of practice that he held under his belt to compose himself from snapping. 

He continued to endure the tiring photoshoot until 5 in the evening, his face now slightly red due to the long exposure in the sun and his muscles felt cramped and tight. He began to grab his things from the sidelines until his father's assistant walked to him, face cold with a tablet clutched against her chest.

"Adrien, your father would like to speak with you." She said evenly, her eyes lidded in boredom he was sure. It was probably boring being the assistant to world famous fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste, but then again he wondered that if it was so tiring, why she'd stay for as long as she has. 

"Let me guess, he couldn't show up ,so you're going to give me a tablet version of just his head on FaceTime." Adrien stated with a roll of his eyes and reached out for the tablet, waiting to hear what else his father had to say to him about the shoot. Surely it wasn't anything good and surely it was going to be a long list of critiques. 

'Well at least like this there's a button I can 'accidentally' push when I'm done hearing his shit.' he thought to himself and snickered out loud without noticing it until the seemingly heavy tablet was placed into his expecting, upturned hand.

A few moments passed by before his father's face was overthrowing the black screen that was displayed in front of him, his frown lines more obvious than they used to be and his cold demeanor clear as day as he looked down at his father in slight annoyance.

"Hello Adrien, this is your father."

"No shit." he muttered to himself.

"I would just like you to know that from now on you will no longer be modeling for the 'Casualties' line." his father told him with an even breath as Adrien stared at him with shock, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes wide as he tried to make sense of his father's statement.

The Paris 'Casualties' line was one of the biggest lines he was modeling for. For years his father was extremely adamant on making sure that he be on time at photoshoots and to make sure that he meet every single standard on their long list of requirements. He had done billboards, posters, magazines and even hit the news airwaves modeling with the industry.

"Really? But why?" he asked, not really because he cared about the place but because his father was so... sure of the company.

"Because their most recent line of clothing was purely based on Ladybug and Chat Noir and they requested that they have the actual kids with latex to try a few clothes on the runway. They said no space so I said 'no business' and called it a night." 

They wanted Ladybug and Chat Noir to model for them? Were they joking? Not only do they know if they're runway ready, but do they realize that putting them there could put the whole event and the people in danger?? 

'There's bound to be dresses.' he thought to himself with a distant look in his eyes, 'And perhaps a Ladybug.'

There's bound to be a Ladybug in a dress. 

He's down for that.

"Okay, then no worries for us I guess," he said, cringing slightly at referring to them as 'us'. As if they were a team of some sort, "I'm sure we can always find business in higher places." 

Ugh. 'We'? He felt even more uncomfortable by his own words. 

"Perhaps, but in the meantime, there is someone new to our team who I would like to introduce you to. They will be an apprentice for my company." his father said and Adrien sighed out, knowing that meant he would have to see his father in person.

Adrien was 19 and young with too much money to know what to do with. His first instinct when he hit his legal age was to move out, however he didn't achieve the goal until he turned 19 five months ago. He was lonely in his new home, the only person or.. thing, to talk to being Plagg despite the fact that all Plagg did was eat, sleep and complain. It was like having an actual talking cat but he would rather be in his own home and feel lonely than be in a house with paintings of his mother while he ate alone, the only other person he wanted to talk to being upstairs to work or avoid. 

When he was 14, Adrien dreamed for the day he would finally break his father, finally somehow find a way to restore his cold heart and put him back into the picture of his own son's life. By 16, Adrien was starting to feel he was breaking through, even got to sit with him at dinner with an agency once! However, by 17, Adrien began to realize that he was replaying a broken record and tried to find a new path for himself, a new way to make himself more relevant but to no avail, hence the plans of moving. Telling his father he wanted out was hard enough but adjusting had to be the most difficult of it all. It was something he thought he'd be used to, but going out to buy food and paying bills and the nightmares; everything was such a big whirlwind that took him by surprise. 

He refocused his attention to his father when he saw him looking up and waiting for some sort of answer.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked sheepishly as he knew his father would be annoyed by his lack of interest in his words.

"I said that they will be apprenticing under me. Therefore the clothes that they design will be modeled by you." Gabriel sighed and without an answer, continued the mapping of his idea, "They are to finish the designs by the end of this week and that is when I would like you to come in and pick out which of them you'd like to showcase and which ones aren't worth the light of day." 

Adrien felt bad for the person who had to undergo his father's surveillance and the burden the person must feel by the short time span he had given them. Poor fool.

He nodded and with that his father bid him a quick and firm 'goodbye' before the black screen was back and facing him once again. He rolled his eyes and handed the tablet over to Nathalie before heaving his satchel over his shoulder, leaving the long time assistant wordlessly in the park he once occupied. 

The one thing Adrien regrets about leaving his old home the most was having a car to be able to sit in, to feel the cool air from the open windows or AC after such a long, hot day. He hadn't had the time to buy a car in the time he left so instead he walked to the nearest and darkest lit alley he could find and opened his bag, Plagg flying out as if on cue.

"Come on Plagg, time to go home," he said to his kwami before raising his ring clad finger near his face and over his body before chanting out the words that would cover him in magic, "Claws out."

As the words were muttered, a flash of green washed over them and he could see Plagg's small black body begin to dissolve into the magic as it spread into and throughout the ring. It covered his body and pulsed throughout him in a surge of strength and the energy he needed to make his way home. As he transformed, he watched as the black leather climbed along his arms and legs, his normal sneakers replaced by slightly chunkier boots, claws protruding slightly from his fingertips and he felt the belt that made up his tail phase onto his waist as ears sprouted from his head and his mask fell gently onto his face. 

Not much had changed on his outfit as the years passed. He kept the bell low on his neck and the belt with slight alterations to each, the bell being slightly smaller and not so obnoxiously... there and his belt was just the slightest bit thicker, small latches in the back for his baton to clip into place behind him instead of just hovering over his back. His old shoes were replaced by larger black boots that helped with his speed and his hair was messier than usual given it had grown out just slightly.

Once the transformation finished and he was no longer Adrien Agreste, but rather Chat Noir, he grabbed his baton that latched onto the back of his belt and twirled it before clicking the green paw button to extend it upwards, shooting him up above the buildings. He shifted his weight on the baton forward whilst letting go of the button to retract it as he hopped and ran along rooftops, his hair blowing back as the wind, which was now much cooler than earlier due to the setting sun, pushed against his front. He enjoyed the feeling of exercise on his tired, under active limbs and the cooling temperatures didn't make him feel like he wanted to jump off a roof from heat exhaustion. He felt at peace as Chat more often than he liked to admit, especially to Plagg. He liked the sense of freedom and the acknowledgment he got from the Parisians, not because he was, 'beautiful, rich boy Adrien' but because he saved people and did the right thing. He was loved for his choices and will as Chat which was a luxury he needed to feel once in a while. 

As he pushed his legs to move faster, he felt serene and light, like it was no problem to run 7 miles consecutively with barely a breath in between. As he deterred on his last mile, his ears picked up on a soft voice from below him causing him to slow down to a jog and then halt all together to focus on the noise.

"Look, I'm just trying to go home, okay? Just.. leave me alo-"

The mystery girl was cut of by a sharp shove into some sort of solid object, maybe a wall of some sort, and he then heard the voice of a much older man.

"Just give me what I want and I'll let you go. Won't even hurt you. Promise it, bluebell." he said and that when Chat heard a sharp slap ring out, earning a grunt from the man.

Footsteps began to fall fast from what seemed like another dimly lit alley as he began to slowly walk over to the source of all the noise. When he crouched to look down at the situation, he saw the girl running off but just as she began, he saw the man grab onto her arm and practically throw her back into the brick wall.

"Welp, time to step in." he said to himself, although it was mainly for Plagg to hear.

He stood to his full height and jumped down into the darkened area, his movements hushed and fluid as he hit the ground on all fours, his suit blending into the scene for the perfect disguise while he approached the couple in confidence and saw how the girl was writhing and pushing at the man with what seemed to be all of her force, making him budge but not enough for her to escape.

"Give me your fucking purse before rip off the skirt an-" 

His sentence was cut off by a deep chuckle as Chat Noir strode over, the last small ray of sunshine sweeping over his messy hair and his green eyes pierced the man frozen.

"Well I sure hope that she has gum in her purse and that's what you're bugging this poor girl about. Would be a shame for me to find out you're robbing her." he said with a smirk on his face and saw the girl turn to face him with a shocked but happy look on her face. Her cheeks were red from the struggle of trying to get rid of the mans hands pinning her to the wall and her dark blue-black hair was frazzled in the restricted hair tie she had her bun secured by. Her eyes were strikingly blue, resembling a sort of ocean or sapphire and the freckles that littered her cheeks were nearly gone from the redness that washed over her porcelain features.

"And what the hell are you supposed to be? An early Halloween joke? Get the fuck out of here man." the balding man said with a grunt and turned his attention back to the small figure before him, using a hand to run along her thigh.

Her face was filled with disgust and she thrashed more to break free but to no avail. Once his hand made contact with her skin, Chat moved over to him and pushed the slightly overweight man away from her.

He stared at the man with a stern gaze as he put a great distance between the perv and his near victim.

"Aw what's the pussy cat gonna do? Hiss? You gonna tear up my shirt?" he mocked the superhero but got no reaction, Chat's gaze was stone. It was dark and scrutinizing. 

It was intimidating.

He was steel and iron and he felt the girl try to tug him away from the situation.

"C'mon Chat. He's not worth the time." she said and yet he still didn't move.

"She's right catboy. Go try to spook someone else. Maybe I'll see you around bluebell." The man winked over at her and cackled, the crows feet by his eyes deepening as he grinned sickeningly. He spit on the ground between them and blew a kiss to 'bluebell'.

She tensed, he turned and Chat pounced.

He latched onto the man from the back, dragging him down and kicking out his own leg from the back, causing him to cry out in pain and surprise and fall on his front due to the weight of Chat on his back. He held the man in his arms before flipping him over and meeting his gaze with his own, his eyes narrowed and his pupils thin slits. He threw his hand back and gave the perv a reminder as to why not to touch things that don't belong to him. Another blow after the last and already the man was practically hanging onto consciousness, sputtering as blood filled his mouth and two teeth dribbled out, making the cat laugh above the shaking mouse. 

"I see you must not be from around here, but consider this your parting gift to the beautiful city. As to who I am? I'm Chat Noir and I don't hesitate to fuck up anyone who harasses young women on the side of the street." he said lowly, his hands finding their way to his collar as he balled up the fabric and brought the man closer to his face, their noses just barely touching. He raised his right fist in the air quickly and the man flinched back, his eyes closed as he shuddered beneath the black figure before Adrien smiled and dropped the mans collar from his grasp, his head hitting the concrete with a soft thud as he stared up at Chat Noir in disbelief who was now standing above him, his feet at either side of his waist.

"If I ever have to run into you again for any reason like this, I will make sure you won't be able to anymore." he said dragging his thumbs claw along his neck sinisterly and agonizingly slow, a light hiss ensuing from him as he did so before he laughed darkly. Seeing as the man just stared at him instead of taking that as his cue to leave, Chat became tired of looking at his annoying, bloody face. "Boo." he growled with a show of his claws, his chest heaving, causing the man to choke on his breath and jump up as quickly as possible, running across the road and away from the scene in a wobbly, frantic mess.

Chat's adrenaline pumped through him, the magic in him making his emotions feel ten times heightened while he watched the robber run in fear. Satisfied and maybe feeling slightly egotistical, he remembered that he had done that for a reason and that reason was still behind him, probably shaken from the events that had just unfolded in front of her.

"I'm uh.. sorry you had to see that. Are you okay?" he turned to face the girl who looked startled but not exactly surprised at the whole ordeal. 

"Just a slight blow to the back of the head but I'll be fine. And it's okay, I'm used to it seeing all that." she said with a smile for a moment before retracting and realizing her words by the confused look on his face and slight tilt of his head, "I-I mean I don't get mugged all the time. Or at all f-for that matter! That was the first. But I'm used to the violence. N-not cause I fight or anything! B-but just... yanno.. cause uh.." she looked at about everything you can look at in a dark alley except him as she chose her next words carefully, "the uh... akumas." 

"Oh! Right! Then I suppose that means you're probably used to seeing me in action," he winked at her and he couldv'e sworn he saw her blush, "Well, I'm glad I could help such a lovely damsel in distress before anything bad happened but I'm afraid it's time for you to maybe turn in for the night."

She giggled and raised her eyebrow at him in a mocking way before shaking her head, "I'm gonna be out on the streets for a while it seems. My house is 3 miles away from here and I'm afraid that little altercation made me miss my bus. But thanks again!" she explained and began to walk past him, her small figure getting smaller as she stalked on. 

"Wait," He grabbed her wrist before she could walk away from him, making her tense and causing him to let go before rubbing the back of his neck in guilt. He really just tried to grab a random girl who was just being grabbed at? Stupid, "How about I just take you home. I was heading home myself until that perv decided to mess around with a superhero." 

She looked at him in hesitance and he held his hand out, palm facing upwards and expectantly waited for the girl to oblige. 

She looked at him for a moment and then looked out to the road, then her phone.

"Fine, but only because it's almost eight and another bus won't be here for another hour or so and I don't feel like waiting." she sighed and reluctantly put her small hand in his much larger one. He smiled and pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around her waist and vaulting them up above the houses and shops that surrounded them. Her arms wrapped around his neck as the wind blew freely against her clothes and face. Why did she look so familiar to him? 

It took 20 minutes to reach her house, her directions being mistaken a few times which may or may not have caused such the delay. Adrien was a precise man and knew it would've normally taken him ten minutes tops for him to reach the destination, not to be cocky but he was almost always right on time. As they began to approach her home, he couldn't help but notice how familiar everything looked around this part of town. At 17 he had graduated his school early due to his father's persistence on him spending more time modeling and getting ready to prepare for control over the business, he was traveling constantly (sans when he would have to come back for "sick days" aka Chat Noir time) and when he'd come home, he'd go out to avoid being disappointed by his own father. The only people he ever kept in contact with was Nino and on literal occasions, Chloe. He didn't mean to lose contact with everyone, but then again everyone was busy with their new lives and he didn't have the time to collect numbers and ensure that he'd be able to talk whenever.

They came close to a building, one that he hadn't seen in years. It was years later and it still looked almost exactly the same. A little apartment looking corner house with the infamous Dupain-Cheng bakery sign at the bottom. It was homey, that was the place that radiated love, warmth and the smell of fresh buns that made anyone feel comforted and right at home and it attracted everyone. Nostalgia hit him with the force of a tsunami as he stared at the building with... Well, he just stared.

The girl was saying something in his ear. He couldn't make out what it was until finally the house was ripped away from his eyesight as he passed by. He continued to stay stuck in a slight trance for a while until he finally shook his head and cleared his throat before tilting his head towards the woman in his arms.

"Sorry, what?" Chat asked and he could hear the girl huff and could practically feel the girl mentally cross her arms in defiance. So familiar. 

"You passed my place." She said with a bored tone, her eyes half lidded with annoyance before he turned to look at her with an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry about that, heh. Something on my mind. Well prepare for an epic U-turn little lady." he laughed out before letting his pole retract, their weight dragging them down as gravity took over and soon he felt the girls grip become deathly tight around his neck, preparing herself for impact with the ground.

"What are you doing?! We're gonna hit the ground! Are you crazy?!" she yelled but not 100% in fear, more as a sort of demand for him to change his mind from whatever he was doing. He just chuckled and tuned it out.

Once they were closer to the the ground, he shifted his weight onto his free side and hoisted her up to carry her bridal style. Once he was close enough to the set of buildings on their right, he threw his baton into the pavement below them, angling it towards the buildings and with that he landed lightly onto the point of his stick pertruding from the ground and used his strength to simultaneously kick the baton from him and yet push off high enough to twist his body and run along the building in the right direction of where she said her house was. As he ran by, the flying baton from his previous kick got closer until he was able to reach out and grab it whilst still carrying a harsh gripping girl close to him. He ran along the wall until she told him they were getting close again and her hold finally loosened slightly.

"That building right there, just put me on the roof." she told him and by the look of his face she could tell that something just hit him like a bus. 

Before she could ask though, he jumped from the building and in mid-air, extended his baton until they safely glided down onto the roof of her home. 

Marinette's home.

"Well thank you for saving me and then giving me a heart attack." she teased as she straightened out her black skirt and blouse. 

Her hair was a mess and her face was kissed by the gentle lights of the balcony she had tied onto the rails as she looked at him with her hands together in front of her.

He didn't exactly know what to say and was shocked by his recent revaluation of who exactly he just saved. Instead he subconsciously just let out an 'uh' while he looked around the familiar yet different balcony. 

"I think that's the part where you say 'you're welcome'" she giggled and he snapped out of his trance, his eyes returning to her face.

"Right! Yes, thank you." he said with a small nod before shaking his head and mentally slapping himself, "I mean, you are welcome." 

She smiled gratefully at him and nodded before turning around to tend to a few potted plants that were filling the spaces of the floor on her roof.

He, once again, let his eyes roam along the small space. Marinette was a simple but bright girl, even at 14, which was probably why they were such good friends back then as Chat Noir. He had, however, got the unmoving sense that she didn't like Adrian too much, given she'd always stutter and hide from him when she saw him. 

Her balcony didn't change all too much. However it wasn't cluttered with junk either anymore. She had small plants lining along the wall of the house and some that fell along the bottom of the the rails and off the edge that swayed in the breeze, the wooden floor held a small pink carpet that looked soft and gentle on the skin yet didn't cover the door to her room on the next floor down, however the unmistakable pink lawn chair that Chat had grown to love was still sitting in the corner, slightly rusted along the metal bars and torn at the edges. Surely she kept it up there to have somewhere to sit when she goes up, but she never got a new one? Finally there was a small end table next to the chair with a small pile of books and a mug standing on it. 

By the time he had finished analyzing the area, she was already turned back around to face him. He met her gaze and smiled when he saw her look down immediately.

"Well it seems that it's time for this cat to retire, I'm afraid." he said as he noticed her rolling on the balls of her feet. He cleared his throat and scratched his head, "Besides, I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't want to find some stray with you alone at night."

"He'd kill you if he did." she groaned and smiled at him. He looked lost at the admittance to a boyfriend and almost unsure of what to do, "Kidding!" 

He let out a laugh before she turned tense again, her movements stopping, "It's my girlfriend you've got to worry about." 

His eyes blew wide in surprise at her confession, he started stuttering and choking on air as he backed into the rails of the balcony.

"Kidding again! Wow Chat, you've got to seriously up your game. You've gotten bad at this bantering thing since the last time I saw you." she chuckled and he let out what was supposed to be a sigh of relief but instead came out as an over exaggerated and animated 'phew!'

"Wow, I can't believe you bested me and then insulted me!" he feigned shock before wiping the tear that wasn't there from his eye, "Wait until Ladybug hears about this. You'll be locked up for animal cruelty. I thought i was your, dare-I-say-it.... friend." he cried

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with a small hip jut, "Oh please, me and Chat Noir? The biggest flirt of the century, my friend? I don't even know who you are!" she joked and his smirk tore her gaze downwards as she enjoyed the playfulness between them.

"Well, I like to think of myself as bold and brash." he said with a flex of his arms.

"More like belongs in the trash." 

If he didn't have his cat ears he probably wouldn't have heard it but he did and he laughed, hard. He held his sides and leaned against the rails for support. It seemed that his laughter was contagious because soon enough he heard her begin to laugh too.

The quiet streets of Paris filled with the howling sounds of their laughter which felt like it could be heard for miles, their eyes beginning to water as they laughed harder at some random old woman across the street who shouted out to herself.

"Looks like I'm not the only crazy one!" she yelled before she went running down the street, cackling loudly at an astonishing speed for such an old withered woman.

They continued to talk and joke and mock and 'cry'. They moved from standing to sitting until laying on the ground side by side, time was lost in conversation and soon they were both red in the face from laughing but once Marinette looked down at her phone and he caught a glimpse of the number 10:03, he decided to call it a night for them both, "Well this was about as fun as it was insulting to me but I think I should get going now." he told her once their giggling had begun to die down.

She nodded with a smile and he stood up from their laying position before helping her up. Now that he was really looking at her, he could tell that she looked tired by the dark circles under her lidded eyes and her slumped figure but by her expression of worry he could tell that she saw he was the same.

"Well maybe we can do this again. Like old times." she suggested and he nodded in understanding

"As long as it's under better circumstances. You don't have to throw yourself in danger to find me." 

"Hey! You know I didn't. I was just minding my business."

They smiled at each other, satisfied that they both had a new yet old friend back in their lives. Of course, she sees him all the time but she had grown a bond with him as Marinette that wasn't the same as Ladybug and she enjoyed both friendships. He didn't know that of course.

He took her hand in his and kneeled down before placing a chaste peck on the back of it, his eyes not leaving hers before he stood to his full height and saluted with two fingers, taking his baton from his belt behind him and readied himself to leave the first short shred of good in the long day.

"It was good to see you again Marinette." he told her honestly and turned back to see her waving at him with a sweet smile.

And with that, he jumped off her balcony and made his way home with a gratefulness he hasn't felt in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dd you get all my references? ;) maybe the spongebob one ;) maybe the evillustrator one ;)  
> also yes! Marinette is bi in this and i fuckin love her. you'll see who else might like the same gender or GASP! maybe dated one of the main characters; past or future ;)


	3. The One Where Nothing is Really What it Seems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter three hope yall like it. im also hella sick an dont have a schedule for this yet

III.

Adrien groaned into his sheets as the light poured through the open window curtain, Plagg hovering near them as an indication of how it got so annoyingly bright in the first place. He ran a hand through his hair, noting how it stuck to his skin with sweat which caused another groan of disapproval to vibrate throughout him. Another nightmare. 

It had been four days since he'd seen Marinette for the first time in years and despite getting home late and crashing even later after some movies and a few snacks for Plagg and him, he had one of the best nights in a long time. The dream was pleasant. Wonderful even. The smell of flowers and sweets filled his nose and the gentle colors of pink and baby blue overthrew him compared to the usual darkness that plagues his vision. It was.. Gentle and serene. 

The days since then have been his usual. Darkness, drowning, death, the works. He had been used to it but of course in his nightmares they were all just too real for him. He pulled his sheet over his head and closed his eyes to block any potential ray of sun that come his way. He was relaxed..

__________________________

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! TIME TO WAKE THE HELL UP!" Plagg scream sang across the room, making Adrien cover his ears and pull at his blanket tighter over himself. Instead, Plagg phased right through and continued his anthem, "LIFE IS HAPPENING SO WAKE THE HELL UP! THE WORLD IS-"

"Okay Plagg! Enough, I'm up! Christ." he rolled to his side and rubbed his face, slowly opening his eyes and having them adjust to the brightness. He feels Plagg pulling gently at his hair with his flippers once and grabs his kwami in his hand, his small body covered and his head sticking out like a sore thumb... but bigger. And also not a thumb.

"Look kid, we've got things to do today so you mind letting me go so we can get started?" 

Adrien was confused. Something to do? What in the world did they have to do ri-

A loud vibrating bang emitted from beyond his house, his pictures on the wall shaking under the force, making him look to Plagg for some sort of explanation. He really needed to wake up now.

"Akuma Alert. Akuma Alert. Please stay calm and indoors. Ladybug and Chat Noir will be taking care of the scene shortly. Akuma Alert. Akuma Alert. Please stay calm and indoors. Ladybug and Chat Noir with be taking care of the scene shortly." His tv blared and he grimaced at the smiling cheshire that was still trapped within his hand. He once again, phased through Adrien's hand and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Shall we my chosen one?" Plagg chirped in a thick english accent, holding out his flipper as if that would activate the transformation.

Adrien stared boringly at his kwami at his lame attempt of trying to seem like the reasonable one. He pinched his nose and shook his head, his unkept blond hair gleaming and falling down to cover his eyes as he moved his head side to side. He let out a sharp breath and held his hand up, facing outwards, "Claws out." he mumbled tiredly.

After his transformation and a quick banana to make sure he wasn't working on an empty stomach, he went into his backyard and moved far enough from his home until he didn't think he was making it obvious as to where Chat Noir/Adrien Agreste could live. 

'What a cat-astrophe that would be.' Plagg said making Adrien want to punch himself yet finding himself laughing at the terrible pun. 

As he leapt and ran across Paris, he met halfway with his one and only Lady.

"Goooood morning Milady! How'd you sleep?" he practically yelled given their far distance as they ran across from each other along rooftops. His eyes were focused on the view in front of him but he couldn't help looking over at her, her serious expression changing as she registered his words with a small smirk.

"Just peachy. No annoying cats to ruin a much needed rest!" she yelled back making him throw his hand to his chest and heave an exaggerated gasp of shock.

"Wow Ladybug, when did you become such a hater?" 

"Oh Chat... why would I hate someone like you?" she laughed and it made Adrien stop dead in his tracks, his hand still on his chest but instead it was clenching at the fabric as he watched her stop when she noticed his disappearance, turning to face him with a smile.

She calculated each step she took to get over to him without falling through largely portioned gaps between them, any other regular person would make the gaps seem like death sentences as she carefully maneuvered her way past the obstacles and approached his unwavering figure . He instead started backing away from her, his breathing uneven and his teeth clenched. This felt wrong. Something wasn't right.

"Are... are you okay Adrien?" she asked in that light feathery voice of hers, and suddenly Ladybug was gone and Marinette took her place instead, her eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looked over him wearily. He then looked down at his shoes and noticed how he was no longer in his suit but in his normal clothes. No mask, no powers, just a random teen on a rooftop. He looked at her again with a pained expression.

Marinette looked worried and scared, like something felt wrong for her too, like something wasn't right, "Y-you're Chat Noir?!" she yelled and he felt himself drawing closer to her without intending to, without wanting to. He wasn't in control. 

He reached his hand to her face and saw his reflection in her eyes. He was Chat Noir again? What was happening to him?! He looked down and still saw his normal wear on him, his hand looked normal against her flushed cheek as she gently pressed her face into his touch. 

She was trusting.

She was kind.

She loved him.

His heart raged like a wildfire and his stomach was an overactive volcano on the verge of exploding because; she loved him. He was happy.

He hated her.

No he didn't. He's happy to see her, to be around her again. And she knows. She knows who he is and she's okay with it. He was gonna burst.

He hated her.

"Adrien.. I... I lo-"

Say it please..

"I love you." she said quietly, her eyes fluttering shut and he finally burst with joy.

He fucking hated her. 

Adrien kept his hand where it was but out of nowhere he saw the terror in her eyes form as he observed his alter-ego's reflection grinning savagely down at her, his eyes black and teeth bared. 

He heard the screams that ripped through her and saw the blood leak from her neck as Chat Noir sunk his claws into her perfect fair skin, right through and into her arteries. He saw life practically drain from her eyes right in front of him, tears pouring from his eyes in a fit of unwavering rage and loathing as he felt Chat's laugh vibrate through his chest.

"Marinette... Marinette I'm so sorry. No. I-I I didn't mean to!" he yelled for her to hear but his voice was muted. In her eyes he saw himself and then he was cast to the side as he watched Marinette helplessly reach out to him, Chat Noir hovering over her now slumped body in his arms with a wicked grin, the images of blood staining his suit and teeth clung onto his brain as he tried to avert his watch until.

__________________________

Adrien woke up with a boil in his stomach, his limbs sprawled out along his mattress.

He had fallen asleep again but he doesn't remember when. Plagg was busying himself with his fridge and didn't seem too bothered by anything. Adrien stood up and strode over to his window before looking and listening closely for some kind of booming; some sign of distress that called and demanded for his presence but nothing made him feel off and there wasn't anything that seemed out of the ordinary to him; so instead he took this rare moment to himself and took a long and very cold shower, his eyes closed and his head lowered as he thought thoroughly about his second sleep.

He emerged from the shower a solid 30 minutes later with his eyes still somewhat lidded and red from intruding water, his gold bangs sticking to his forehead and his skin grew goosebumps given his ac was still pumping the 67 degree air flow evenly throughout his home. Not like he was complaining.

"Hey, how about today, we actually do something productive like hit the gym or go out to flirt with the loveliest women in Paris, eh? Social interaction could do you some good." Plagg offered from the foosball table that sat in the far corner of his living room. He never used it but Plagg seemed to take a liking to hiding in it or wrestling the little men, causing him to go into a spiral of black. He just couldn't bring himself to throw it. 

"I don't think so. I think I might be coming down with something and besides, my father still needs to talk to me later today, remember? Never truly a day off for me." He muttered the last part to himself. Friday was already here and the introduction to his father's new apprentice was on the back of his mind. The last thing he probably wanted to do was meet some hopeful underachiever. His father had a tendency to claim that someone had a vision for the future of this company but never had he kept them for longer than a week. There was always a quiet meeting that ended in the new hire running out with papers close to their chest, tears pouring down their red faces and curses being thrown towards people. An occasional Akuma afterwards but that was only for him to notice.

Adrien dried his body off in quick languid motions and swiftly returned clothing onto his naked limbs, his hair naturally falling into it's rugged and disheveled state from before his shower. Once he felt comfortable and was ready to eat something, his kwami already following closely next to him with a stink trailing behind them both, he reached the kitchen and dug into the fridge to check his options. 

There was a blueberry yogurt, two apples, butter and an underwhelming amount of strawberries.

He was running low on food.

He opted for his yogurt before making a mental list of what to get when he had to inevitably go purchase more groceries, a task he usually was more excited to tackle than he currently was. 

He sat on his couch, his kwami sitting beside him as he took full wedges of camembert into his mouth and swallowed them full. Adrien was always impressed because every time he watched his super alter-ego dive into his next food coma, he swears he never sees him chew his food. Does it just fade away? Does it magically phase through to his stomach? He will most likely never know but that doesn't stop him from staring in a mixture of awe and disgust.

"Take a picture and maybe it'll last longer." Plagg winked and Adrien snorted while scrunching his nose. 

A soft click of the remote and the news flashed along the screen, showing him what the weather was to be expected in the hours and days to come, all the local stories and general delays he would have in traffic today, but nothing about an Akuma or Ladybug and definitely no breaking news articles about Chat Noir murdering the local bakers' daughter. So pretty much all the important details he needed to know for the day; which put his mind at ease. 

 

At least people are safe.

At least Marinette is safe.

__________________________

Milk? Check. Eggs? Check. Cereal? Check. Annoyingly overwhelming amount of camembert taking up most of the space in his cart? Check. Yogurt? Check. 

He learned to ignore the look of surprise and confusion the cashiers had the tendency of giving him when they were tasked with ringing up a pile of cheese but what caught his attention at the moment was an odd head of brown and blond hair and a pair of clunky, worn down glasses around a girl's head. He wanted to get a closer look of the loud and mismatched woman but as Adrien was stuck getting his stupid cheese checked out, the dark girl's purchases had already been finished and she walked out of the store with a tip of an invisible hat to the woman who helped her bag her items. How familiar.

On his way home, Adrien found himself growing increasingly impatient with the weight of his bags on his arm and the Parisian afternoon heat warming his body in an uncomfortably sticky way giving him multiple opportunities to groan and whine about the dumb cheeses awful smell at the time. It seemingly poured from behind him, caging in a natural odor of funk on his trail but luckily kept many of the starstruck fans out of the way of him. He didn't want any interruption on his way home and if he did he was afraid of snapping at the poor people for his own exhaustion. So instead he kept his shoulders leveled and gaze sturdy on the winding concrete in front of him, the sweat making his hair lay flat against his forehead and his clothes stick to his toned body, a clear outline of well... everything on display for those who happened to have their eyes travel onto his torso or chest. And a fine sight it was to those people. 

As Adrien grew from a small lanky teen to an early man, he had gone throughout many serious changes that many thought wouldn't happen given he was already pretty well assessed when in his younger years. But his prime was definitely here and now. His growing body filled out Chat Noir's outfit with ease, from the broad shoulder pads to the oversized shoe, everything now fit him snugly and on some occasions where he's trapped too close to Ladybug on bad days or rain came into play, too snugly, the leather being a dead giveaway to anything that stood between the magic fabric and skin. His chest was broad and he stood at an intimidating 6'2. Not freakishly outstanding but not nearly small enough for anyone to give him shit. Not to mention the muscles in his back and arms had become more define and taught, his jawline sharper than glass and his face was slightly longer, mature and not displeasing to look at. He was a a force to be reckoned with and he often used his unnatural beauty to his advantage when he could, especially in the form of puns for his lady. 'Can't stop staring at this beautiful piece of art, can you?' he would ask her in the art museum, pointing to his face with a smirk and teasing glint in his eye. How she hated them. The thought made him smile. How funny, he just thought to himself; Marinette would react probably the same. She had a knack for jokes but at the rate he had harassed her with puns through the time he'd known her, made her grow visibly less fond of the atrocities. These dark-haired beauties and their damned sense of humors. How would it ever work out between any of them?

Probably wouldn't, Ladybug would most likely murder him three seconds into a relationship and Marinette would just kick him off her balcony without a second thou-

…

Wait…

Did he just insinuate that not only may he and Ladybug ever be together but... He and Marinette..?

Of course not! Marinette is a great friend and wonderful person! But he could never ruin such a great bond with feelings he could only have for his lady! Even if she was strong-willed and brave and sweet and oddly good at wrestling and smelled like flowers that were blooming in a bakeries summer dream and knew how to bake a mean fucking vanilla ice-cream cake and-

Wait. What??

Adrien looked around him in bewilderment, stopping dead in his tracks as if he had just yelled that he was Chat Noir and transformed in front of everyone. What was he thinking? 

A fever.

He's got a fever that's all. He wasn't thinking about Marinette. Hahaha what's a Marinette? That a place or something? 

At this point he was practically sprinting home, dying to get away from all these people who looked at him in confusion as if they could read his mind. He raced to his front door before fumbling with his keys, jamming the right key into the hole on his third attempt, turning it with so much force he thought he'd bend it out of shape and kicked the door in before slamming it behind him, making sure to lock and bolt it after.

He placed the groceries on top of the wooden table of his dining room and paced with his hands in his hair.

What a good friend. Marinette is such a good friend! She's always helped him with everything whether as Chat or Adrien. She always cared despite his constant worrying and ugly late night sobbing special over his lady and he appreciates her for those times. The times where they used to talk about everything and nothing at all as both his personalities. But when they did talk they talked of crazy things. The future, how the world works, what would happen to our universe years and years from now. He wondered if she has found someone else to do those things with. She had said she didn't have a boyfriend or girlfriend but does that mean she's looking? And if she's looking, has she already looked around for a while? 

Why does that matter to him?? He just learned of her current appearance and life just days ago. Sure he thought about her. A lot more towards the years of his temporary departure than most but he had no right to be getting upset with anyone but himself if she had found someone else to converse with. It wasn't his business and she was his good friend whom he thought highly of.

"Hey" a tiny voice said somewhere 

'Okay maybe I just like freckles.' He thought to himself deeply, his brow creased and his finger pressing firmly against his lips as his tussled hair began drifting into his eyes. 

"Hey kid." the voice said again, barely cracking his train of thought.

'I didn't really notice it much until now but I might just like girls with freckles or something. Lila had small flecks of freckles on her nose and she was pretty cute, even nowadays, she's got a pretty face. Ladybug has a few on her chin and the parts of her face that are a little more exposed, but Marinette..'

"Hey kid I'm talking to y-"

'God they litter her cheeks and run carefully along her nose, letting up in gentle beauty kisses across her forehead and on her chin'

"Kid are you fuc-"

'Scratch that, I love freckles what a beautiful-'

"ADRIEN SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Plagg yelled out in frustration his flippers smacking his nose. He quickly shifted his outrageous focus onto his Kwami in front of him who he just remembered was with him in the room. 

"Wha-"

"If I hear another god damn thing about you and your fucking freckle fetish I'm going to smash my head into the fridge. Even though I can't die, I will just freeze myself and render myself useless for a while. Maybe let you get wiped out during an Akuma battle and then I'll come back and find a new chosen." he said frantically staring into his eyes and although Adrien knew he was saying this to make him shut the hell up, he could see he meant a little part of it which is what kept his mouth shut. Plagg let go of his nose as he rubbed his temples, closing his eyes for emphasis and taking in a few unnecessary breaths before looking back at his chosen with a more calm demeanor on his small cat-like face, "Anyways, your little zone out made me hungry and I ate the stash of what we just bought." he said with certainty and even pointed to the half empty plastic bags that littered his table, some floating off because of the fan attached to the ceiling going around and blowing them in many directions.

Adrien looked tiredly at the mess before him, knowing that he was about to have to get back into gear and go to the store just to buy even more cheese. He can see it now, 'International teen model Adrien Agreste eats a fuck ton of the worlds stinkiest and perhaps worst tasting cheese and goes into store to buy 30 more tins of it.' How fun.

____________________________

After cleaning and putting everything away, Adrien hurried along back to the store to do just what he thought and bought 30 more tins of camembert. He'd felt enough guilt to the woman who had wrung his order for him beforehand so he spared the older woman the trouble of his cheese raid again. Once he was back in his home, he let an excited Plagg out from his T-shirt's pocket, his flippers reaching down greedily into the bags even before Adrien could put it down and he tried his best to swat the black cat away. He successfully pushed Plagg's small body away from the white bags and quickly maneuvered his away around his zipping figure to the kitchen countertops before he held his hand up, his Kwami coming to a comedically quick halt in front of it. Plagg looked up at his chosen with an unphased expression, as if this was a futile attempt and he would just eat the whole thing once more. But not this time.

"Plagg I know, okay? You love camembert. You want nothing but it, If you could marry the shit you would, you'd have nothing else. In all it's rotten smelling glory but you need to slow your roll on eating the entire damn batch." Adrien stated firmly, meaning every word of it as he stayed unmoving. He countered Plagg's expression with a solid one of his own. He hated having to go into stores and buy multiples of it just to have to go back out and buy even more 30 minutes later. There's been too many occasions where he had caused stores to run out of their supplies due to his sprees and it wasn't very fun for anyone. Except Plagg of course.

"And what do I get out of this little intervention of yours? Huh?" he asked 

"You have full rights over the remote on Netflix and you can set your stupid forrest white noise relaxer shit up on YouTube for a week. That's all." he said persuasively, his voice smooth and his bargaining skills heightened thanks to Chat Noirs strength to such minuscule traits. 

Plagg continued looking at him with his unwavering bored expression before he looked down at his feet, breaking eye contact and leaving Adrien to watch him ponder amongst the option he was given and after a few moments he heaved out a small sigh

"And if i don't decide to accept this negotiation of beautiful cheese for technology?" he countered to which Adrien smiled and feigned an innocent expression, his shoulders raising in a slight shrug

"Oh I don't know. Maybe we'll just play unfair and I'll buy everything but your disgusting cheese anytime we go out. No more camembert."

Plagg was left with another moment to think his options out. It was the ultimatum of the century and he could swear that Tikki face-palmed somewhere out there because of his genuine love for the stuff.

"Fine, but I don't want to hear bitching from you about what we watch." he told him before holding his small black appendage out to his human, making the blond roll his eyes with a grin and shake his limb with his forefinger. 

With that, Adrien took the cheese to the separate mini fridge kept in the corner of his huge, living room sized, bedroom by his door and unloaded the bags of cheese into the cool compartment installed just for Plagg.

His Kwami really had taken up a majority of his life in a way. 

He thought about it now and then how he thinks of Plagg as sort of a brother to him after the years of growing up together, (well him growing up but his Kwami just growing older), and he was appreciative to have some sort of outlet at the end of the day he trusts. Some form of deranged, magical, cheese loving family.

By the time he finally sat down on his living room couch and toed his shoes off his feet, his phone beeped in his jean pocket, making him contemplate leaving the dreaded thing there and having the people have no choice but to leave him alone to relax or see who's trying to get ahold of him. His limbs were aching he began to realize and his posture was slouched slightly in exhaustion but he knew that he would eventually have to see who was calling and why. Not many people had his number and not very many called. But when they did it was usually something of an important matter.

He grabbed the obnoxious vibrating device from it's restricted spot and let his eyes glaze over the name ID where it held the word "Gabriel", causing him to quickly straighten his back out of habit and answer quickly, "Y-yes? This is- this is Adrien."

"Adrien, this is your father. I requested your presence earlier today and was hoping you'll be able to swing by to pick your outfits for the show in about 45 minutes." His father didn't offer but set for Adrien's arrival before him on the phone. 

"Uh yeah sure I guess. At least tell the poor person they won't be staying long after this." he said with as much sarcasm as one can muster over the phone towards their and with it he hung up without another word from either of them. He stared at the screens digital time before sighing out in defeat. It took him a while to get from his home over to his father's company so opted that since he had 45 minutes to kill, that he'd walk for twenty and then use the other 25 as Chat Noir to get a little exercise in. 

As he landed on the building, he carefully ducked down to make sure no one spotted him and quietly performed his de-transformation before slipping into the door that led him down to the top floor of the building. He walked over to the closest stairwell he could find and given there was nothing but a few empty boxes and completely empty walls and lack of human activity, he rendered this floor void of anyone but himself, and he took the moment to make sure his Kwami was secure inside of his t-shirt pocket, his hands fixing his hair given he was just flipping around through the cooler air. He took a long drawn-out breath before pushing open the door that led to the lower floor. 

 

When he pushed the wide, bright red door open, his eyes widened to a floor of hustle and papers floating astray from their piles while men and women paced along with their stacks of paper work as they all rushed around, the stress of the room steeped into his veins and he politely had to shove and be shoved towards the closest elevator in sight, finally evading the hostile environment. A building of 34 floors and his father being on the 17th led to a very continuous elevator ride as it paused with new passengers and rode out to previous riders' destinations, a crowded elevator filled with a whole bunch of random frantic employees wasn't exactly what he needed right now. 

Once it was finally his turn to exit, he followed the familiar path into his his father's office that he'd often go to whenever he had something particularly important to discuss, although he didn't understand exactly how this was important for himself given that it's going to be his father's apprentice and he was just picking designs but he doesn't question the motive to bring him here any further because by the time he reaches the door, one of his father's work assistants had already swung it open, as if they had planned on his arrival right that second and the sight in front of him caught his breath in his throat.

It was of course none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng standing before him in a soft pink off-the-shoulder knit sweater and blue cuffed jeans that hugged her hips kindly, her hands crossed in front of her with a folder tucked between her left arm and breast all the while she looked up at him with those, frustratingly, innocent blue eyes. Her eyes took him in and in a moment of recognition and recollection, her soft smile dropped in a disturbance of some sort. Her eyes continued their search in identifying the man before her and her eyes shot wide open, her mouth slightly agape as she looked between his father, back to him and then back to his father and once again, him, all while making sounds of disbelief with their mouth. 

He could imagine he was almost doing the same thing and for a moment it felt like they were just teenagers all over again. Stuttering and shocked messes, unknowing on how to act at such foreign coincidence. He cleared his throat and made the effort to speak first,

"Father, you called me here today?" He addressed to the man standing behind the large white desk that Marinette was in front of. Her presence was making things a little hard to focus on but he had to remember why he was there in the first place. 

"Well my son, I have informed you of my new apprentice and how they are to be designing a new wardrobe for a show that will be arriving soon. Marinette Dupain-Cheng I'm sure you remember my son, Adrien Agreste. Adrien." his father gestured to him to make some sort of conversation between him and Marinette. This was his time to impress both parties and smoothly recover from his previous awkward reactions to the atom bomb that just came into the room and stole his very breath from him. 

He held his hand out, offering her a warm grin and in return he got a red face and a plastered goofy smile before she hesitantly let her small hand join with his much larger one in a greeting that should breathe, 'it's good to see you again, glad to be working with you' and was instead a slow-motioned form of, 'oh my god wow, oh my god wow, oh my god wow.' 

After a brief moment of her transfixed gaze on his face and their hands still held together in their handshake, Adrien cleared his throat and pulled his hand away, noting how sweaty his hand was which left him wondering if it was him or her who was sweating so much. He pushed his hair back and took a note of the droplets of water along his forehead, the salty water beading across his skin making it visibly clear who the culprit was. Was it getting hotter in here? Jesus, why was everyone looking at him??

He cleared his throat once again before taking a deep breath and looking towards his father, as if awaiting for some sort of explanation. He straightened his posture and smoothed his hair back, offering her a small smile once more and motioning for her to say something.

Marinette continued to stare foolishly at his facial features, her eyes soaking in every glorious detail and divot and crease, her gaze traveling just the slightest bit lower to where his collar bones shown through the low v-neck line of his t-shirt and she giggled inwardly to herself. There was no stop to the creep of pink that seeped into her cheeks quickly and so she took the moment to wave a hand in front of her face and compose herself before continuing with introduction. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you again Mr. Agreste. I believe this is when you judge my designs?" she said with a light-hearted laugh and reached for her manilla folder, cautiously, as if it were glass she didn't want to drop.

Marinette opened the folder and began to go move toward him and show the sketches she had been working on for so long toward this moment. 

Gabriel had told her after her huge hiring excitement as apprentice that she would be given a week to create a design for a potential line under the company that would be featured among runways. It would pay her handsomely and not to mention bring her closer towards her dream of becoming a well-known designer. 

However, Gabriel hadn't seemed to mention that the big celebrity model that she would be showing her personal drawings with was his son and her old crush, Adrien Agreste. What a crazy coincidence. 

He looked down at her sketches and then back up to her while she began to ramble about each and every small detail of the pictures, explaining how it could be fitted and adjusted for his more built body type.

He continued watching as her almost animatic face contorted through different expressions with everything she said. Sweet perfume and baked goods filled his nostrils and he welcomed the aroma and close proximity of the girl to him.

"And that's all of them!" she grinned happily at him and it was just then he realized he wasn't paying attention to a single thing she had been saying, he was too enamored by the way her eyelashes seemed to flutter gracefully to a close on her chubby cheeks and how she tended to lean into him while she talked passionately about her work. 

What a poor fool he was.

"Sorry I uh.... Wasn't paying attention."

He laughed sheepishly, his hand making it's way to rub the back of his neck as she stared at him in boredom.

He heard his father sigh in disbelief and he could swear he heard Plagg do the same until his attention was pulled back to the smaller girl beside him as she began to lay out her designs once more

"Okay... so, I'm thinking..."


	4. The One Where Shit Gets Twisted

IV.

Sweat ran down Adrien's mask and face as he jumped down through the back window of his house, landing him in his bedroom. He de-transformed, feeling the exhaustion seep through him that the suit usually keeps at bay during their akuma battles and ran his hand over his forehead to collect the beaded sweat and swipe it off his skin, his chest still heaving in long, deep breaths. He heaved a sigh and shrugged off his jacket from his warm civilian body, then his shirt was shucked off followed by his jeans and boxers. He travelled to his bathroom in his bare state, a yawning Plagg following him only to zip down the opposite direction of the hallway towards the living room, a distant click and the sound of random voices filling the area gave away the intentions that Plagg was hoping to watch the replay of the akuma attack from a third perspective like they usually did. Adrien, however, hadn't slept much the night before and it was a long, tiring fight they dealt with this evening and even though all he wanted to do after his shower was sleep, Ladybug informed him that she wanted to set a meeting for 8 tonight before their patrol began.

He opened the bathroom door and turned the light on to find the sink messy with hair supplies and his toothbrush from his morning rush to be at his photoshoot on time, a long process that took up the little time span he had set to make it there all nice and perfect. Despite the fact that he got a majority of his touch-ups at the site, he liked to ready himself prior in a poor attempt to speed up the beauty process. It never really helped much given they thought he still had a lot of work to be done to be considered a more "fitting" look for the shoot. 

His hand reached for the knob and he turned it to the hottest setting he could and waited for it to warm, turning towards the mirror to take in his pale complexion. He noted how his lack of rest had cursed the underneath of both his eyes, planting dark bruises in his path and giving his face a wispy shadowed contour. His eyes were lidded and his hair was wet and hung just slightly over his eyebrows with a dull glint, it's usual shine gone as it lay disheveled on his head like a mop.

Once he noticed the steam framing the corners of the mirror, he pulled his gaze away from himself and started towards the shower, closing the curtain behind him with a swift pull. He let the burning liquid beat down on his taught muscles, loosening his tense jaw and relaxing under the heat. 

_____________________________

As Adrien and Plagg looked over the fight again and debated on different attacks he should use and different critiques he needed for him to improve, he felt himself nodding off, eyes fluttering in a poor attempt to stay open and his head lulling back every moment or so until an odd alarm sounded in his mind. He was late for something but what was it? A photoshoot? No he already did one of those today, right? Something to do with working. 

Ladybug. The meeting. Patrol.

"Shit. Alright Plagg, time to go." he breathed quietly, standing from the couch and rubbing his hands against his face. 

"Yanno kid, Ladybug knows what a night off is. You look like you slept in a coffin buried six feet below for three weeks and dug yourself up, besides you're obviously exhausted. Just tell her next week and get some rest." 

He looked at his kwami who was now floating in front of his face, his tone sarcastic but his eyes showing the true worried feelings for behind his words. He gave him a small assured smile, silently opting out of his request and scratching the cats bulbous head with his finger. 

"I appreciate your concern Plagg but I just.. need to get this done and when we do, we're free for the next two days completely unless there's an unexpected akuma attack, which, I doubt there will be this close to the one from earlier." he explained his reasoning behind his decline. He noticed his kwami's small smile and gave him a small poke to his stomach which pushed him back through the air slightly, "Besides, when did you become the 'mushy and gushy' type? That cheese is starting to have some side effects." 

"Hey, you and your 'cheesy' insults can kiss my cat ass. I'm not the one that owns a Ladybug phone case and a complimentary wallpaper on your phone and weaponry device of you two in your superhero state, which, by the way is a very very stupid decision, oh and have i mentioned the folder of little fanfiction you have on you compu-"

"I don't look at fanfiction of me and Ladybug. That's stupid, I have the real thing." 

"You lie but I pity you for I know everything. If you think I don't know how to work a damn computer or how to browse a history then I believe you've lost all faith in me." Plagg retorted with crossed arms, his eyes rolling while his head turned to the side 

"Okay maybe I read a few once or twice when I was 16 but I haven't read any since then." He defended, I mean who didn't wonder what creative and talented people wrote about you and your partner and their interpretation on things whether formal or free-write.

"Yeah but a 'few' of those contained a few very.. explici-" 

"Claws out." Adrien cut-off quickly, shutting down his defense as his words got caught in the swirl of magic he became. Enough of all that none sense.

He reached for his staff and leapt out of his back window and towards his destination.

_____________________________

As soon as he got to the top of the eiffel tower, his gaze met with soft blue eyes and a black and red mask standing impatiently, her arms crossed and her hip popped while her foot tapped on the iron below it in a gentle face-paced rhythm.

"30 minutes late as usual chaton, you owe me five bucks." she said with a new proud smile on her face before holding out her hand. He rolled his eyes and unzipped his left pocket to retrieve the money he had put in there prior to leaving his home, knowing of their wager on his late presence after the attack. He had begun a terrible habit of coming late to patrols and meetings at night due to his very complicated track of sleep and Ladybug of course was very keen on having him show up on time, so they had promised that for every time Chat Noir showed up late, he owed her five dollars for the 'waste of her time fine' as she put it.

"Sorry m'lady, you know I never mean to keep you in the dark. However, it is always a lovely sight to see you under the moonlight." he flirted with a wink of his eye before approaching her now shrinking figure as he closed the space between them and placed the five dollars in her hand, "so what was on your mind tonight Bugaboo? Finally realize your undying feelings for me?" 

"Oh, wouldn't you just love that?" she laughed humorlessly and flicked the bell on his neck, her sarcastic smile making a blush rise under his mask as she continued, "I brought you here to talk about Hawkmoth's recent akuma attacks."

She took the moment to lock back into her usual planned out self, her eyes looking down as her mind went into different topics to mull over, "Over his last five attacks, I've noticed something a bit more strange in his plans and decided to try and figure out what made these recent villains take more power from us to defeat. I finally had the time last week to make it down to the police station and ask for the personal reports and files of each civilian that was akumatized and strung the conclusion together that he's given up on the 'try not to endanger too many and focus on Chat and Ladybug.' and instead, he's been putting everyone in danger by akumatizing people with specific charges," she explained with a calculated pace. She was rambling at this point and he was taking in the boatload of information with a finger to his lips, his eyes narrowed in thought of this.

"He's been recruiting people who are known to have assaulted and killed others. People who want some kind of revenge for whatever they've lost and he's putting it in their heads that we're at fault. He's becoming desperate for our miraculouses and I'm guessing that he isn't holding back as much given we aren't just children anymore."

"Whatever this guys goal is, he's obviously not going to be letting up anytime soon. Our only good strategy right now is to adapt to the workload until we can find a lead on his identity and take him down face to face, the original plan." He concluded, looking over to her to see her eyes on him with a determined look on her face, her hands opting to stay in place by her hips despite the waves of thought invading her space. 

"I think the same thing, but that means that we are obviously going to have to really train and prepare. These akuma attacks aren't as spaced out as they usually are, they've become more rapid and their new strength will tire us out faster if we don't. We have to take every precaution we can to keep everyone, including each other, safe." 

There it was, that overwhelming feeling of adoration towards her unconditional selflessness and will. She was undeniably on beat with her words and had said it with such ease that he could've sworn she had planned this for months let alone a week or so ago. Her hand rested on his arm with a gentle touch and he allowed himself to selfishly indulge in it with a small smile.

"Chat Noir, I want you to know that... if for any reason anything were to ever happen to me, an akuma gets me or Hawkmoth manages to get me down, you can't stop fighting, you can't stop protecting this city. Not for me. Okay?" 

He was taken back by her sudden words, "What are you talking about Ladybug? Shouldn't I be the one saying this to you? You're always the one cleaning up my messes afterall." he told her with a playful chuckle, his demeanor more relaxed until he felt her arm tighten just a slight bit, a movement gone unnoticed by herself.

"I'm serious. If I became a threat or a weight, I need to be sure that I can count on my partner to continue putting his duties before anything else." she said with a glint in her eyes he could only peg as fear and worry. Was she afraid he wouldn't be able to push his love for her to the side for hundred of defenseless Parisians against a threat? Was she scared he was gonna fall back because she became his enemy? That he couldn't possibly protect others from his own feelings?

Unnecessary annoyance tinged his mind and plagued his mood, his emotions more excelled dude to his restlessness and stress and it showed through an eye roll and a shrug of his shoulders that caused her hand to slide off the latex of his suit with a slight screech from the material.

He turned around and let out a small scoff at his own accusation, "I know how to be a superhero Ladybug. Just because I'm your partner doesn't mean I'm your sidekick and that means that I won't hesitate to defend and protect these people." he defended himself and he heard Ladybug's feet tap against the floor around him until she was standing in front of him with a scrunched up face, her hands on her hips while she looked up at him.

"You know that's not what I mean Chat, I'm just saying that I don't want you to put anything aside for me if anything happened. Paris is the priority. That has nothing to do with you being a sidekick and we both know that." she said with a finger pointing at him. He spared his gaze from her and chose to stick with out at the city lights that flooded through his vision.

"Chat Noir, you know you're not a sidekick damnit. You've proved yourself time and time again and might I add, you were the one that was trying to take down Stoneheart while I was unsure of myself and stalled." 

"But who really took him and the multiple akumas down that day? You. You're the one that makes everything right, the one who cleans up my destruction and rights everything in the world, when I get affected by the akumas. When I fuck up and let others down." 

'Cool it zippy, you're blowing off your steam on someone who doesn't deserve it' Plagg echoed in his ears through the magic, but he shook him off. 

He let himself indulge in his anger for once. He could regret it later. 

"Look, I appreciate that you don't call me a sidekick but those are everyone else's thoughts and you-" he pointed at her, her own arm falling to her side as she watched him unravel in front of her, his eyes practically glowing in the night as he shifted his gaze back towards her, their eyes finally meeting again, "know that." 

She was speechless as they stared at each other. He could see she wanted to argue, to protest and let herself have the last word but, with her lips pursed and her cheeks puffed up, she just looked away in silence. 

"C'mon. Patrol awaits." he reminded her and at the words, she nodded gently, both of them taking out their weapons and running in the opposite directions to begin their usual task of searching for any signs of danger.

____________________________ 

Once their patrol turned a success and they had met back up to say their goodbyes. He had utilized the time in the patrol to realize his harshness of his words. He knew he blew up out of his own faults but he also knew that deep down he wasn't exactly wrong so he opted out of an apology and instead, accepted the awkward goodbye they were left with. After they parted, he took the time to run it out, forgetting and not caring about his previous shower as he did, his eyes roaming along the sights below and around him. He bathed in the cool air, enjoying the feeling of his body burning due to the push in his limits. 

His eyes landed on a particular balcony, noticing a small and seemingly frustrated Marinette pace and wave her arms around her head maniacally as she talked to someone on the phone he assumed, given the lack of answer he heard to her. He walked up to the balcony with a smile on his face before using his power to politely eavesdrop on the conversation as he hid from her in the shadows.

"-just so annoying! Like how could you possibly believe yourself! And then to just walk away?! Why are people so complicated?" she said in disbelief, her tone shifting to a more gentle one as she sighed out, "I just wanted him to know how important he was to me and he just refuses to see it." 

So there was someone. Maybe? 

He continued listening.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. But still how inconsiderate can he be to just walk away? To barely acknowledge me? Sometimes I don't know why I bother trying to talk to him when all he does is-"

She was cut off by the other person and he heard Plagg's voice ring out again, 'Stalker-ker-er-er' he said, imitating an echo and letting his voice fade out with each time he repeated the last syllable.

"I'm not being a stalker. It's my job to help out those who need it and she's obviously in distress." he said, looking up as if he was talking to the cat outside the costume

'Whatever you say creepy guy, she's looking by the way.' Plagg said again which caused Chat to whip his head around violently, looking over at her with wide and cautious eyes only to find her continuing her rant more quietly, his eyes lidding at his kwami's joke, 'Heh, the good ole made-you-look. Never gets old.'

"Says the one who never gets old." 

Chat took a few steps closer before she began to shake her head and walk towards her trapdoor, turning herself in for the night and he decided he probably should begin to do the same. He'd have to pester her about it later. 

He ran his usual route home and as soon as he was inside, he dropped his Chat Noir suit and threw himself against the couch with a tired groan that ran through his throat. He heard Plagg do the same next to him and he didn't lift his head from the spot as he muttered out in a muffled voice, "Snacks and a movie?" 

"Nah, I think I'm gonna hit the sack. You've exhausted me out for the day." he croaked out and Adrien nodded in understanding. He exhausted himself out too and now he just wanted to sleep for the rest of the week. 

They both made a point to get up and travel over to his room, Plagg laying on a small hand-made pillow he had made in his final year of school on his desk while Adrien removed his shirt and changed his pants for the night. He climbed into his bed and the mattress felt like a genuine godsend as he let himself spread out and get comfortable, the sheet making him wonder if a life beyond this bed was a life worth living. 

"You did good today Adrien, but you still need to clean up your shit fiasco with Ladybug. No offense but the 'asshole partner' thing doesn't suit you and she didn't deserve to be on the wrong end of your emotional tyrant firework." His kwami reminded him of the incident with his lady and it made his heart pang with guilt. He made the woman he loved upset with his own problems and self-doubt and he felt he owed her the apology, despite the truth it might've held. What was being right if it meant he couldn't talk to her without it being awkward or upsetting for either of them. 

"I know, I will. The next time I see her." 

And he made it a point to himself to try and get something for her for their next meet, something special that she could maybe wear to show that he truly didn't mean to make her feel bad for just trying to help him. He just didn't know what. 

He could think about it when he woke up, he decided and turned off the small light next to him on his nightstand, closing his eyes after and letting himself go to the far away realm of sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter four and we finally get our first look at annoying mood swingin Adrien. fun! 
> 
> i wanted to capture him in a bad time and show that he isnt just a sweet boy who keeps his emotions locked up. hes a normal teenage boy with unsteady emotions and normal reactions like jumping to conclusions and getting upset over them. hes a good kid at heart though


	5. La Luna

V.

Chat Noir stood like an idiot in front of Ladybug in an utterly ridiculous attempt to shield her from the annoyingly cliche attack, the navy dark complexity of the akumas skin, shining in a soft white glow as she held her hand up, her palm facing him, La Luna as she called herself, ready to unleash a new batch of 'hey time to tell your darkest secret to everyone and then I'll take your miraculous,' upon him.

"Chat, look out!" Ladybug yelled for him to move but of course, he took the hit. As he usually did. 

Inside, she felt bad. She didn't know why he continued to throw himself away like that for her. Whenever the opportunity arose, he never seemed to hesitate before jumping ahead of her or somehow making her fall behind him. 

In an instant, she pointed her finger towards him and her black eyes narrowed while her smile widened as he was entrapped by the soft glow as well, his eyes turning black as he looked off into the distance dazed and distant as if in a dream, his body hovering off the ground just as she was.

A sickening feeling sank into Ladybug's stomach when she realized what kind of damage this could bring to him. He could reveal his identity and lose everything on the spot, including his miraculous. He finally turned to face the Akuma with a faint smile on his face and Ladybug reached for her yoyo, pulling on the string to slacken it for better distance. 

"Doesn't it feel good to release the truth? No more dirty secrets and dark thoughts. Let it out Chat Noir. Tell us what we're all dying to hear." she said in a soft feathery voice and even Ladybug would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling hypnotized by it. She had to shake her head violently for a moment before she threw the yoyo around Chat Noir's feet while he still floated in the air, his mouth opening.

"I'm- I'm-" he was cut off by the yank that she delivered on the rope of her weapon, however, her thought was so focused on her aim she didn't exactly think about how much force was in the tug, causing his body to go flying back into her, crashing them both into the wall. 

Any hit to the head or body like that and a regular person would've easily broken their bones or cracked their head open, but the suits were thankfully able to withstand much more. The headaches that come after hits like that without full healing under the mask on the other hand, was a force to be reckoned with in itself sans the sore muscles and large bruises. She was sure this would be one hell of a migraine. 

With a light push, she was able to stand back up and brush herself off; grabbing his wrist and latching her yoyo onto the antenna of a nearby building, La Luna still distracted by the disturbance in her work. She seized the moment to try and make it as discreet as possible, thanking all her stars that the person akumatized was on fourteen-year-old Chloe obliviousness given her younger age. It made her upset that he still targeted such young kids, the girl looking no older than sixteen years, but she turned her mind onto the more pressing matter of getting them both out of there safely and defeating their enemy again.

She continued to swing away until she settled on a rooftop, roughly a mile from the commotion. Her eyes caught sight of her partner who now stood before her with a grin and if she didn't already know there was an akuma attack she would've sworn he was drunk, the only sign of brainwash being his eye color. She placed a light hand on his shoulder and looked over him in worry.

"Chat? Are you still with me?" she asked with a crease between her brows and he turned to her with those dark black eyes, his body still faintly glowing even in the evening, "It's me, Ladybug."

"I... I'm-" she covered his mouth quickly with wide eyes from both their ends. Christ this was gonna be difficult. 

"One thing left to do then." she mumbled to herself, grabbing her yoyo and calling upon her lucky charm. 

A pair of scissors fell from the sky and landed in her hand as she and Chat looked at it in confusion, "Scissors? But for what? Think Ladybug, think."

She looked around the area for clues, red and black polka dots lighting up and highlighting the scissors, then as she looked over to her partner, his tail belt lit up, then his baton as well as his mouth even under her hand. But what would she use the scissors for?

'Marinette, the akuma is in her hair band. However it grew much too thick during her transformation into La Luna!' Tikki echoed and she smiled wide at the reminder.

"Ah-ha! The scrunchie! It's way too thick for me to rip in half and I'll have to cut it! Good thinking Tikki!" she said, knowing that even if she talked of her kwami, Chat Noir wouldn't remember this after the spell was broken. 

With a smile to herself she grabbed onto Chat's tail and wrapped it around his mouth before buckling it into place. Then, she grabbed his waist and swung them both back into the arena of toppled cars and rubble, facing their villain. Chat Noir kept trying to talk and spout his secrets through the belt and Ladybug rolled her eyes before grabbing his staff and in a very narrow close-call, just barely deflected her attack by swinging her yoyo in front of her. While she was readying another attack, Marinette was already a step ahead and extended Chat's staff, knocking her through the air and into the pavement with a thud that made her cringe. She saw the akuma grab onto the staff and try to twist it from out of her hands but by then, Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around her wrist and eased her grip on the staff that was pinning her into the cracked street, just slightly, so it was enough for her to pull her towards herself in a calculated yank.

Knowing that she would try and attack her up close, she took the five seconds of surprise to jump higher above her and in a swift flick of her wrist, she cut the obnoxiously big hair tie from her oddly thick, dark purple and blue ombre hair, the white stars that were her pupils were blown wide and the akuma came flying out just as Ladybug landed on the street as well, her legs wide to stop the slide and her feet and hands pushed into the ground to slow her down. She unwrapped it from the small girls wrist and threw her weapon towards the white butterfly that flew from the cut object, enclosing it in her yoyo with a small 'gotcha'.

"Bye bye little butterfly." she grinned and waved goodbye like she always did before grabbing her scissors and throwing them into the air with all her might, "Miraculous Ladybug!!" 

In an instant, everything was swarmed with bright pink lights and lady beetles everywhere. Anything broken was fixed, all those affected changed back and the victim was now sitting on the ground with a confused look on her young features. Ladybug's eyes then wandered to her partner who held the same confused and worried gaze but instead of catching her eye, he was busy struggling with removing himself from the vocal confinement of his own belt. 

"Where am I?" the victim asked and Marinette couldn't help but smile sadly at the innocence. They never knew, those poor souls.

"Don't worry about it, you're safe now. You'll be brought to the police station for a little questioning and then the hospital for a quick checkup and then you're free to go." she said with a polite grin and the girl smiled back. Ladybug helped her stand up and led her to be escorted to a squad car by a few cops, one of which being Sabrina's now balding father. It wasn't usual procedure but given Hawkmoth's recent relentlessness, they needed to be more diligent on knowing his identity than ever to take his ass down.

Once all was calm again and everyone seemed to just go back to how everything was previously for the most part, she approached Chat Noir with a clear of her throat while some were questioning him or asking for pictures. She pointed up and threw his baton to him in an attempt to free him from the grasp of the wretched swarm of journalists. Her miraculous beeped which made her grip her yoyo on her waist out of habit before a hand was around her forearm. She turned to find her partner looking down at her, his grip firm.

"Wait, I was wanting to talk to you about the akuma attack." he said in a quiet tone, to keep from prying ears but she only shook her head, her chest beginning to tighten suddenly in guilt. He always wanted to know what he did whenever he got brainwashed and it was starting to make her feel worse and worse to explain his mistakes to him. He called it constructive criticism but she knew that he wanted to know what he did wrong during his blackouts.

He looked down at her with a confused look in his eyes and she supposed that she accidentally let her emotions slip onto her solid poker-face. Her miraculous beeping saved her from having to explain what might've been another sad story of his partial akumatization and with a wave, she threw herself into the air without a word, leaving a puzzled Chat in the plaza alone with paparazzi and fans. The guilt sunk in again as she looked down at him.

________________________________

Marinette grumbled to herself while she tried to busy her unusually frustrated self with another design, her pencil scribbling violently as the graphite of the pencil's lead dusted over the white paper. That caused her to let out a huff of frustration, then her wrist smeared the graphite across her new drawing, the silver dust smearing and covering her hands and design. She yelled.

Tikki watched her with a concerned expression, her eyebrows drew close together as she hovered a few feet away from a now standing Mari, her teeth sinking into one of the throw pillows on her bed as she frantically stomped around the room. 

She let herself breathe deeply for a moment, closing her eyes and counting to what seemed like a hundred in her mind before she plopped back down into her desk chair with a sigh. She let her hands fist gently into her dark hair.

"Marinette, I can't help you if you don't talk about it you know." her kwami gently reminded, floating over to her side and patting a flipper onto her shoulder. 

"I know Tikki. I'm sorry, but Chat Noir can just be so stup-" 

"I hope you're about to say stupendous because if so, I already know." a familiar voice rang from her window and she shrieked in surprise, her weight shifting too far back and too quickly to stop herself, ending in her falling backward onto her hard wooden floor. 

She heard him wince and then chuckle lightly, his claw tapping against the window pane as she began to stand up clumsily, knocking some pencils down and balled up papers of ruined designs with them. She saw him extend his finger toward her, making her think to La Luna again, and coaxed her to come forward with it and with a roll of her eyes, and slight reluctance, she obliged, letting her body move unwillingly towards him. He was becoming a magnet, like some sort of beacon of light and she felt like an engrossed moth hurdling towards the sun dumbly. 

"I'm not happy with you, chaton." she told him flatly before unlocking and opening her window enough for him to climb inside without making too much noise, "Maman and Papa are asleep and I have an internship to attend to tomorrow so I hope you have a good reason for bugging me tonight." 

"Ladybug pun." he coughed quietly to himself, then clearing his throat and registering her previous words, "How could you be mad at me? You looooove me!" 

He leaned against her wall, his body closer to hers than before and she was beginning to feel trapped, his cologne filling her senses and rupturing her sentences into nothing. Air. She needed air.

She pushed passed him with a scoff and pulled on the rope to her trapdoor, the ladder falling into view gently in front of her and she happily stomped along up. She needed to get away from him. Her daily dose of Chat Noir antics were fulfilled and now all she could do was think about how dumb he can be. 

She was mad.

"Aw c'mon princess, what's wrong?" he teased playfully as he followed closely behind her, taking the spot next to her against her rails as she leaned on it with her forearms and he leaned against it with his lower back. 

She rolled her eyes and turned away from his gaze, making sure her blush wasn't obvious from her childhood nickname. It was flattering of course but goddamnit why was she blushing? He snickered to himself before putting his hand on top her head, turning it until her face was to his, "You're really mad at me?" he asked in genuine curiosity and it made her want to push him away again but she refused to let him get to her like that.

"Why?" she asked.

"What?" 

"Why do you do that?" she asked again, sterner this time, her eyes focusing on his and she saw him raise a brow through his mask as he let out a breathy chuckle.

"Sorry princess, I don't think I understand the que-"

"Why do you sacrifice yourself for Ladybug all the time?" she finally asked the question that plagued her mind and mood all day since the fight and she was left in silence. The only sounds heard being the wind and leaves rustling against the October ground. 

He looked.. surprised by her question and then looked down in thought, his once playful demeanor now gone with the crisp breeze as he mulled over the words in his mind.

"Well.. I um-"

"Why do you think it's a good idea to just hurl yourself into harms way?" she grilled further, a bitterness creating a tension that felt thicker and thicker the more the silence passed. 

It had been a solid three minutes of complete and utter quiet and she felt her ears deafening from the lack of sound from either end of the party. 

He sighed.

"I um... I do it because we need a hero to save Paris. And I'm her partner so it's my duty to help her at all times." Chat explained, rubbing the back of his neck in a familiar way, "It's my job."

"But you're a superhero too. You're just as needed as she is and you just fling yourself into danger to protect her and all for what? Because she's a hero? News flash, there's actually a few. Rena Rouge and Carapace for example," she referenced her friend Alya and the random new turtle hero that they had met a few years prior, she continued, "You risk yourself getting hurt every time, you could've outed your identity today and you wouldn't have even known! Do you not think?! What if Hawkmoth had successfully stolen your miraculous? Then what? You think Ladybug could take down Hawkmoth without you?! Cause she can't okay! She can't! She's just some ditzy overrated girl with a fancy yoyo!" 

She was ready for Tikki's rant to be ready for her once her company left but right now, she didn't care. She felt herself nearing the edge of her odd emotions, it was like a cave that she had to climb out of but it just kept closing in and closing in until she saw the offended look on his face blend into view, her eyes narrowing in her defense.

"Ladybug is the only one who's able to fix everything and purify what has been tarnished by akumas. Don't talk about her like that. She saves Paris, including you, with and without me, she could surely take down Hawkmoth whether I'm in the picture or not!"

"You're wrong."

Those two words held so much emotion in them as they rolled off her tongue in a low uneven voice and hung in the air foully. She didn't even realize she had begun to cry until she saw his gaze soften as a tear fell onto one of her bare feet. Her blue eyes were stone and she was in his face now, their chests mere inches apart before she began again, her voice breaking the silence once more.

"If you had gotten hurt or somehow disappeared, she would be lost. You said it yourself, you're partners. That means she relies on you," she poked at his chest, her breathing ragged and her heart rate erratic at this point, "Just as much as you rely on her. If you think anything less than that, then you're out of your fucking mind." 

She wasn't one for such harsh words and so she let them finalize and punctuate her point, the defining moment and peak of her defense now grabbed for the air in their chests for both of them to choke on. 

He didn't bother trying to talk and she felt her guilt begin to scratch at her train of thought like a broken record. Images of him being smashed into buildings and tossed off roofs or into water were crawling into her headspace and it made her dizzy with fear. She swallowed back the bile in her throat at a sudden thought that never usually crossed her mind until now.

"What if you just died one day? Do you know how much your presence means to everyone? We all would be destroyed." she choked on her last word, the image of something so terrible finally gnawing away at the last bit of her composure.

She tore her eyes away from his face and stared at the ground with soft sniffles, her arms crossed over her chest like a stubborn child that was refused their candy. She did what she could to hold back the tears from falling more but they just dropped onto the wood beneath her feet with a soft tap. 

Then she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her body into his until her ear was against his broad chest, the race in his heart unmistakable with their proximity. The hold was tight and secure and she had no intention of breaking away from it just yet because felt safe and right. It was more of an embrace rather than a hug. It was full of too many emotions and that's when she noticed the light sniffling coming from above her making her pull back slightly to look up at him despite her body and mind yelling at her to just enjoy the moment of his arms around her and the warmth he conveyed. 

The tears that brimmed his waterline and streaked down his mask confirmed her thoughts of his own crying as she looked at him with her mouth slightly agape. He smiled at her sadly, his claws gently digging into the skin of her hip.

"I'd take on a hundred akumas at once if it meant keeping you around Mari." he said in a low voice that made goosebumps raise along her soft pink flesh, a new lump forming in her throat at his words and he laughed a beautiful laugh. A brokenly sweet laugh that made his nose scrunch up and caused new tears to cascade down his face. It became infectious and before they knew it, they were just laughing like maniacs on her balcony, both of them sniffling as they held onto their only hope in this desperate time and that was each other. They clung onto each other as if their lives depended on it and neither one of them dared to let it slip. 

"You are truly one of a kind. I will never allow myself to be the reason for your tears again, so I promise princess, from now on, I'll be more careful. As careful as I can be while facing danger." he told her and his eyes shone with undeterred determination, making her feel much better despite his last words. It was all he could promise and she appreciated him trying at all. He could've easily pushed her away and insisted on letting him to his job. She nodded her head with a blush and raised her hand to his cold, damp cheek, the contrast in their bodies making the sensation feel heightened. 

"I trust you. And even if I am just plain old me, know that I'll always try to protect you. No matter the cost." 

She could've sworn she saw him blush but even if he did he covered it quickly, regaining his composure as he nodded in understanding. They both let themselves relish in each other's presence for a moment longer, the both of them facing out towards the sky as she watched the stars shine and the moon illuminate the space in it's beautiful glow. 

After a good and much needed twenty minutes of silence, then jokes and gentle arm bumping passed by, he finally cleared his throat to grab her attention and said, "I don't mean to be the one to cut this beautiful night short but I believe you said you had important business to attend tomorrow so it seems I must be on my way." 

She looked at him and nodded solemnly, not ready for his departure but instead accepting the inevitable and with a smile she grabbed onto his hand before he turned away, causing his eyes to grow wide as he looked down at their intertwined fingers.

He didn't pull away.

"Thank you kitty. Please get home safe." she said quietly and stood on her tip toes to reach herself up and kiss his cheek gently, turning away and going down her trapdoor quickly to make sure he didn't see her faint blush. She didn't know why she kissed him or why she was even blushing because of it but she knew that she felt more at ease now than before. 

"What happened out there?!" Tikki screeched and Marinette only laughed while she began turning off the lights in her room. Tikki followed her closely behind, obviously very very confused while the girl changed and then continued to shadow her while she began to get situated into bed.

"Nothing crazy. Just a promise." she replied and propped her kwami onto the pillow next to her with a funny grin. 

She stayed grinning like an idiot until she finally fell asleep.

______________________________

Adrien crashed onto his bed through his open window and scurried across his room like a cat on all fours in a panic, his eye twitching while he called off his transformation.

Once Plagg was out of his ring, he began to yell in his high pitched voice whilst Adrien paced back and forth and back and forth and back and forth again and again, so fast he swore he was gonna burn a hole through his floor and drill himself into the core of the Earth. 

"Adrien!"

"Plagg! Fuuuuuuck!" he gritted out as he let his hands latch into his hair tightly, then he laughed like a madman, his face red and his chest heaving for air as Plagg banged his head against the coffee table.

"You don't. C'mon be reasonable, there's no way. You barely paid attention to her when you were kids! It's always been your stupid love for Ladybug! You got a lil smooch and you'll live and love Ladybug some more." Plagg lied, knowing full well that Adrien had thought about Marinette a lot back then. He would even have some very particular dreams by the end of their time together that he would always have to dodge into the closet to avoid the noises but Plagg was just as worried about the shocking discovery as Adrien was, "You were going to reveal your identity to La Luna. That's all."

"I wasn't. You know that. But why?! I didn't even know about this! I mean I guess I kinda did. Okay maybe it's been kinda clear to me now but still! This is madness! That was ages ago!" he shouted, his living room walls making his voice echo throughout the house. 

He then sighed and sat on one of the barstools in front of his kitchen counter with his head in his hands before turning around to face Plagg with a serious expression, "You know what I was going to say when i got myself hit," he began with a calmer voice now, his previous panic now turning into reluctant acceptance as he said it, bringing the craziness to life,

"I'm in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhHHHHH


	6. Matter Over Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p.2 of 'i couldnt wait as an author'

VI.

After the revelation of the century, Adrien all but avoided the annoyingly persistent bluenette whenever he heard of her whereabouts at work. He'd drown himself in papers and fittings and made sure that if he saw her in any hallway, he'd spin around on his heel and get the hell out of her way. She was repelling him because she was making him want to move towards her. Ironic right?

"Oh! Marinette, on your left!" his kwami whispered yelled to him from his shirt pocket so he skidded to his right and ran off, "You know, just cause I'm helping you doesn't mean I think you're anything more than a pussy." 

"Yeah yeah, whatever about pussies. I gotta go see my father and you," he said looking down to Plagg who's head stuck out for full display until he pushed him back in with his finger, continuing as he fast-walked down the hall, "Need to stay hidden. We have reputations to uphold here."

Plagg grumbled out a response and Adrien smiled as he made his way in front of his father's office, the back of his neck practically sweating from all the back and forth he'd been doing throughout the day. He pushed open the door and walked passed his assistant who already had her mouth open to protest entry until she caught glimpse of who he was, making her mouth clamp shut and her head whip back towards her computer in concentration. He passed through a second obstacle of doors until he was face to face with his father who was in the middle of a skype call.

His father looked up at his intruder before giving him a blank stare and sighing, waving his hand in front of his computer, "No Jakob, the red will just have to do, we simply cannot change three hundred eighty-six dresses to blue in less than twenty hours for the damn shoot. That is my final choice on the matter." he replied before swiftly ending the call with a push of a button, facing him with a stoned expression, "What is it my son?"

He grew flustered and that made him embarrassed, something that usually happened when he in his father's presence alone which was usually a very rare sight to see. He cleared his throat and blinked twice before remembering what he came in the office for.

"I was wondering if I could maybe take up one of those extra photoshoots you're always requesting. I'm kinda feeling," he paused looking for the right words to say next, "suffocated.. in here."

His dad quirked in eyebrow in what he assumed was his version of elation and with a curt nod, he pressed his phone for his assistant, "Ariel, please book Adrien for the three o'clock photoshoot for Gucci." 

She replied with a quick 'yes, sir, of course' and with that, he released the button. Adrien sighed in relief before his father spoke again, cutting off his short moment of carelessness.

"You're all set. You have approximately thirty minutes to get ready and I will request that my newest intern be brought with you." 

His heart stopped and he sputtered for a moment like an absolute dumbass in front of his unwavering father.

He stuttered out foolishly, "You want me to take M-M-Marinette? To the shoot? W-why would I have to do that?"

"She has been having some obvious struggle coming up with new designs since arriving so I assume seeing a familiar face would help. On top of that, she will need your updated measurements to be sure of her outfits she's created. The show is in two days. We cannot have any mix-ups or messes last minute." he replied in his usual even tone, a shudder crawling up Adrien's spine at his words.

She was going to take his measurements. 

He was going to have to stand in front of her in his boxers while she touched and poked and prodded. 

He was going to die.

"But is it really necessary that-"

"My decision is final."

And that cut the debate off. 

Deciding against trying to convince him that it was a terrible idea, he knew his father wouldn't be swayed by a piddly crush and so he made his way out of his father's office without a word from either of them. No 'love you' or 'be safe'. Just a simple slam of the door behind him and the sound of his feet tapping against the marble accompanying him through the rest of the corridor.

As soon as he reached the exit, he opened the door with a huff and slid away to the nearest bathroom to cool off. His temper was a curse that he had to learn to manage alone for years, so thirty minutes was more than enough time to calm down, get everything together and leave. 

"I just have to work with it. It'll be fine. Maybe even fun! After all she is my frie-" he paused.

Adrien's eyebrows pulled close together and his heart pounded violently when he choked on the word, his voice cracking in the middle of it in an awkward sharp note. 

"She's my fr- My Fren- My frrrriiiee- AGH!" he wasn't able to finish his sentence without having himself halt the phrase in his throat as if trapping it like foul language. 

"Awww what's wrong lover boy? Can't admit that you're into Marinette more than just friendly stuff again?" Plagg quipped, his words muffled against his pocket and he glared down in annoyance.

"Oh what was that mister 'Oh my god Tikki is the best, I wish I could see her again, my life was so much better back when Tikki and I were together all the time, wahhh wahh wah." Adrien chided and his kwami flew out to quickly get in Adrien's face.

"We don't speak of those things. After all, I could easily bring up all the times you'd stay up late at night and jack it to Lad-"

Adrien's hand closed around his mouth and he shoved him into his pocket once more before sighing and leaving the restroom, only to, as if on cue, bump into none other than the girl who he'd been trying so desperately to separate himself from the whole day.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." she rang out as she rubbed her abused head that had hit his rock hard chest bluntly, her eyes looking up and meeting his in a wide panicked state, "Adrien! Oh god I'm sorry! That was my fault!" 

He watched her collect her composure as she babbled and droned out how bad she felt and he wanted to ease her but he instead found himself chuckling at her outburst of apologies when the fourteen year old nostalgia came pouring in. She looked beautiful as always which made him feel warmth and a great deal of unease. Her baby yellow sundress offsetting her eyes and hair in the most intricate way and her freckles on her shoulders and arms were lightly reminding him of their existence as they peaked from under the light white cover up she had on to cover the thin spaghetti straps. She was cringing inwardly at her small, unimportant to him, failure and as soon as he noticed he stopped and grinned down at her in reassurance; a hand landing gently on her shoulder while she stared up at him.

"It's okay Marinette, really. It's not like I broke a bone or something."

She looked over him as if checking for considerable injury before scratching her head in embarrassment and he prayed he wasn't letting the affection he felt for her crawl onto his features. After another brief once over to his body she nodded slowly and gulped, a quiet giggle escaping from her parted lips.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I'd probably lose my job if you broke something. It's a good thing I'm not in my suit." she said with a small smile of her own and he looked at her in confusion.

"Your suit?"

She looked panicked again and quickly she began spouting out, "I-I mean my work suit! Yeah w-whenever I'm in that baby, I become extremely determined on my destination and I get an odd burst of strength, yanno? M-My confidence booms I guess! Hahahaha!" 

At this point, everyone else in the crowded hallway was staring at them from her sudden outburst, she was sweating and he saw her growing more and more uncomfortable by the second. He decided to help her out of the situation and put his arm around her shoulder, walking them both toward the front entrance for some fresh air.

"I understand, I always feel that way whenever I'm wearing black." he laughed as they walked, throwing in a hint of his superhero alter-ego towards her but he knew it'd gone unnoticed. 

"Black?" she asked and looked down in thought for a moment before nodding to herself, "You just gave me a few new ideas for the show." 

She beamed up at him and his heart rate went erratic at the sight, his knees threatening on buckling under his weight at the marvelous sight below him. He felt his stomach coil and his face heat once he turned away and he really, really could use some of that fresh air now if not previously. 

They kept walking in comfortable silence and once they reached the front door, he remembered his arm was still around her very petite shoulders so he removed it much to his dismay and opened the door for her to exit the building first out of natural chivalry. She muttered a quiet 'thank you' and exited with him following suit quickly after, the door shutting as they took a deep breath in unison, both of them seemingly relaxing at the lack of walls and busied bodies around them. 

"So um, I kinda have this photoshoot to go to in a moment a-and my father was hoping you'd be able to accompany me. Apparently you need to also take my measurements for some quick updates. I'm guessing I put on some weight." he joked and she smiled, nodding curtly at the request before letting her face twist into distaste at his last statement.

"You don't look like you've put on anything but a few extra pounds of hair gel," she jabbed at his side with her elbow and he laughed dubiously at her comment, "but it would be wise to update the sizes before the show so we don't have to struggle at the last minute when fitting time rolls around." she replied with a focused look. They continued light conversation, the minutes passing by in what felt like seconds and he completely forgot about his responsibilities until a dark black limo pulled up next to the curb in front of them.

The passenger window rolled down to reveal a middle-aged man with jet black hair and a matching black suit, "Photoshoot for Adrien Agreste." he called out in a bland voice and once again, Adrien pulled the backseat door open for Marinette to slide in first and him doing the same before pulling it to a close. 

"I don't want to sound unprofessional or anything but I've never been in a limo before. This is amazing." she whispered as if prying ears would catch her in her childlike manner and deem her unqualified. 

"He can't hear you from all the way up there and through that window separating us. It's practically soundproof back here so you can't hear a thing. Besides, it's nothing too fancy, I've been in these things since grade school." 

There was a moment of silence between the two as she propped her elbow on the arm rest on the door next to her while she gazed off, her cheek resting gently in her small hand as the gentle classical music played from the speakers around them. He noticed their close proximity to each other, his hand and elbow grazing her's with every bump and turn they'd hit and if she didn't notice it, he was praying to anything he could that she wouldn't notice how clammy his palm was getting from the simple interactions. He cursed his dumb emotions for letting them make him feel gross and icky but she only stared out the window with a far-off expression, one of longing and in the reflection of the window, he could see a small blush coating her cheeks so he decided to bump his leg against hers in an attempt to break her from her distance, "Got something on your mind?" 

She snapped back to her reality and looked at him with a nervous grin, her eyes practically squinting from the gesture before she began the natural anxious giggle she used to do around him when they were fourteen. Damn how it suited her.

"I was just thinking about someone." 

His stomach dropped at her words and he felt himself growing more and more... odd? As the time in the car passed slowly for him, he was starting to feel an itch. An urge to know. Who was she thinking about? Was it a guy? A girl? Why was she thinking about them? Maybe she was thinking about her mother or father? 

His train of thought rammed his head on and on trying to puzzle it together. He was starting to feel a headache press adamantly around his head from overworking his thought process with questions and red lines with pins in it to everyone he knew that she could possibly be talking about. By the time the car stopped, the silence between them was making the seemingly crowded backseat way too stuffy for him to handle so he quickly jumped at the opportunity of release from his confined mind. Maybe a photoshoot would help get his mind off the topic.

They got set up at the new park, setting bags down at a nearby bench that she decided to seat herself at with her battered up sketchbook and so he made his way over to the fountain where he saw his photographer set up and ready to go. After a quick outfit change and light makeup was applied to his face and in check, he was ready as well.

Twelve minutes in and Adrien was zoning off in wonder again. By twenty, he'd been corrected and brought back to reality five times. Thirty two and the photographer had practically given up on him, cursing in Italian under her breath as she repositioned him a certain way and barked for new poses, demanded unused facial expression and rolled her eyes when he'd drift off to la la land again.

"Christo, we need something to snap the kid out of this. You bring that cutie with you?" she asked bluntly behind the camera as she popped the blue gum in her mouth, her thumn jutting backwards. It took him a moment to process that she was talking about Marinette. 

"Oh, uhm yeah."

"Wonderful, baby doll, would you mind posing for a few pictures with goldie locks over here?" she asked in an alluring voice that made Marinette's face heat up as she nodded quickly and put down her sketchpad on the bench she was perched at. It made him blink at the exchange.

Did she just call her baby doll? Was she.. flirting with Marinette?

He was about ready to throw a tantrum at the photographer for calling his friend such a suggestive name but once Marinette was ordered to move close enough to him that their chests brushed, all natural order was suddenly out the door for him. 

"Perfect, now, blondie, put your hands on her hips and new girl, put your arms around his neck. Wonderful. Now just give her a gentle dip and pop the leg."

They followed suit and soon enough, her pigtails blew relentlessly in the wind as they hung down behind her. His grip was firm and her hands were locked behind the nape of his neck with intertwined fingers, the sensation alone giving him light chills along his arms and legs and making him light-headed. He stared down at her with surprise and she just smiled back, his previously zoned out state now filled with light fuzziness and the smell of her annoyingly distracting vanilla perfume. 

"Okay now when I count to three just smile at each other, we're advertising for love here. Three, two."

Adrien had no problem with plastering on fake smiles during shoots, in fact, he mastered the skill so down to the point that anyone would mistake it for blooming ecstasy but as he looked down at Marinette who smiled at him with closed eyes, her white teeth on full display as a natural blush covered her cheeks he caught himself grinning, dazed by the natural perfection before him. He swore it was like looking at a fine piece of art that you weren't allowed to touch or you'd be dead on the spot. But yet there he was with fingers digging slightly into gentle flesh and he noted how the bone of her hips were prominent against the pads of his thumb. 

He should've been arrested but he was happy to know that no security was there to detain him for doing such a thing to his equivalent of the Mona Lisa.

The flash went off and she opened her eyes again. He was genuinely taken aback by how the shining afternoon sun reflected against her light skin and prickled her stricking blue eyes with shining speckels of gold, enhancing them in what seemed like the universes will to smite him where he stood. All he could do was gape down at her.

"Adrien, we have to do the next picture." she reminded in a hushed voice and he remembered the extra bodies on hand and that he had been staring at her much longer than what assumed to be normal.

He lifted her back up slowly, her hands pressed against his chest as he did andwith a clear of his throat, he turned back to his bored looking photographer for the afternoon, hoping she would take it easy on him. But it was just the opposite. She decided to utilize the park's hospitable water fountain and used her free range camera to take the snapshot there. She requested them to sit and then for them to hold each others hands, her legs on top of his and their foreheads pressed against the other's. As if it couldn't get any worse, he noticed in his side vision how her dress was riding gently up her leg, his hands just begging to tug it down to enable the modesty he wanted to enforce in the presence of another woman who found her just as appealing as he did. That's when she made him regret life with a few simple words.

"Mind maybe putting your hand on her leg? Just to spice it up a little. We're gucci not Toys R Us." she blew another bubble and Adrien shoved his indecency to the back of his mind with a huff from him pursed lips. He backed from their close position to turn to Marinette for consent and she nodded in confirmation which he was both pleased and disappointed about.

The hand that was facing the camera and her slightly exposed leg began to begrudgingly make it's way onto the pale skin of her knee just slightly below her thigh, his calloused palm gripping ever-so-gently onto her and he pressed his forehead back to hers, his breath hitching in his throat when he did. 

'Keep it together, don't fuck this up. Keep it together, don't fuck this up. Keep it together, don't-'

She giggled at his fingers as they squeezed onto her thigh in a manner that set off her weak spot, his heart thumping at a million miles a minute, looking at her with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape in pure awe. 

Snap. 

The photo was done and they were moved onto the next. 

They had taken five more exceedingly personal pictures with three dress changes for the pair before they took their final picture. One in front of the water fountain as the sun set behind them in a blazing orange god-like manner that any person would marvel at with delight. He was now dressed in a black suit and a black button up beneath it, a white bowtie offsetting the rest of the ensemble and his hair was pushed up and gelled back away from his face in a quiff. He stood impatiently and checked the time on his watch, his dress show tapping on the ground as he waited for Marinette to return from the changing tent set up a few feet away from him. 

Five more minutes passed and he was rubbing at his face in exhaustion until his gaze was pulled towards the opening tent before him. The photographer who he learned her name was Carmen, stood next to him, her eyes lidded as a smirk spread across her face, propping her elbow on her shoulder as if they were long-time friends. Just as he was about ready to snap at her, he watched as Marinette emerged from the dressing room, her body clad in a long white dress that was made of silk and was embroided in small crystals that lined across her waist and led upward over her chest. The elbow cut sleeves were lace, the 'off the shoulder' design giving her shoulders an intense glow in the sunset and her hair was pinned up into a braided crown that wrapped along her head with baby's breath flowers tucked neatly inside of it. She wore minimal makeup mostly consisting of natural browns and nudes that made her eyes pop in a brilliant way and her lips were their natural pink just coated in a clear gloss. 

His mind went into maximum overdrive and his hands were sweating again out of either giddiness or absolute unadulterated fear from her now intimidating presence. Carmen simply laughed and shook her head before looking over at him with pity telling him, "Good luck bud, you're definitely gonna need it."

He was definitely going to need it.

She approached him and her extra inches didn't go unnoticed now that she stood in front of him, the top of her head still barely reaching his eyes. They both just stared at each other, surprised with each other's very different yet familiar appearances as he took in the gravity of this situation. This was a wedding photo. No doubt about it at this point but for some reason, looking at her in a wedding dress with the gentle glow of the orange rays felt right. 

"Alright, lovers time to assume position. Agreste, carry her bridal style," he did what she asked with ease but not without a gentle squeak from Marinette which made him smile dumbly at her reaction, her face heating up in embarrassment at her own noise. The photographer began counting down and in a burst of confidence he decided to give her a gentle kiss to her cheek with an audible gasp coming from her lips despite the smile she had plastered on her face. It made his ego boost in the most exhilarating way, giving him a rush when the photographer asked for another.

"Now, let's make this happen. We need a kiss and we're done for the day." she said, making both Adrien and Marinette blush and look away from one another, both of them stammering nonsense until she began counting down again. They faced each other with uncertainty but he was more determined than she was let-on and in a swift motion, he pressed his lips firmly against hers, her lips puckering in response and her hand magically grazed into his hair, tangling themselves into the back while the one that face the camera gently cradled his cheek until, much too soon, the flash went off. 

They didn't pull away until Carmen cleared her throat and chuckled to herself at the sight. He felt like a fucking child when he pulled away and was breathless from a simple peck, his eyes lidded in furious contentment that raked through his body from head to toe, making him feel drunk. She just stared which gave him a sudden self-conscious feeling causing him to swiftly settle her down onto the grass with ease, clearing his throat.

"You're a very- ahem. I uh, you're very professional. Good work Mari. I'm proud of you." he told her honestly and she continued to stare with parted lips, a gentle 'uhhh' ringing out from her lips, dragging out until she took in a deep breath and mentally called for a reality check.

"Thank you A-Adrien. You are too." 

This wasn't his first time kissing someone for a photoshoot but this sure as hell was the first time he had ever felt so messed up over one. Sure, he's kissed a few beautiful women and even a man for a 'love wins' photoshoot when equal marriage was officially legal in America, Paris' contribution to their support towards the decision, but she was by far the most beautiful he had ever kissed or even laid eyes on. 

 

They changed back into their original outfits and were finally released from the confines of the photographer. He grabbed everything he needed to and made a bee line to the ever awaiting limo and practically dived into the backseat once the door was opened for him, his hands clutching at the new pair of pants and belts he got out of courtesy of the brand and his breathing ragged while he dreaded her arrival in the backseat.

The door was opened again in little to no time and she clamored in as well. Thankfully, she chose on sitting across from him rather than right next to him, giving him his time to breathe and calm down after a very stressful shoot. They sat quietly even when the limo started and began driving off, tension filling up every crevice of the space that made him feel compelled to open the window 

His gaze was transfixed on his hands that were folded carefully in his lap until he heard her chime, "That was fun! I've never done anything like that before! Unless it was for a picture with family, friends or for Alya's blog of course." Marinette spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them with a smile tugging at the corners of her pink lips and Adrien couldn't help but smile back. He wondered how no one had ever asked her to model before and knew that she was one hundred percent perfect for the industry.

"You should do it more often. You really were amazing out there. Yanno, speaking of Alya, I heard Nino and her and getting married soon. You still keep in touch with her?" he asked, remembering how on one of his late night skype calls to his friend that had now moved to New York with his fiancée he was informed on how he proposed and, not surprisingly, made a mess of it until she proposed as well, the both of them having the same thought in mind. It was charming to him and he had never been more proud of his best friend than in that moment. Until the accidental phone call of him and Alya having sex happened about an hour and a half after the initial one. 

"Oh of course! Fun fact you probably don't know, back when Alya and Nino broke up after he moved to America when we were sixteen, we dated for a year and a half." 

His eyes blew open and his mouth hung in shock at her new confession, a strangled 'oh' getting caught in his throat and coming out like a pig squeal instead while she laughed at his gawked expression.

"Yeah, we were pretty exclusive until we mutually decided to stay best friends when I learned she still felt love for Nino." 

He sat back and nodded at her words like a fool before rubbing the back of his neck and blinking, blowing out a sharp breath, "Well, I kinda assumed you would've at least hooked up at some point." he told her honestly and she snorted with a roll of her eyes, "Not in a perverted way, she just tended to get handsy with you and vice versa so I kinda... Well, assumed."

She nodded in understanding then shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just glad we still keep in touch, she's practically family now and I'm thankful for that. She's a great girl and deserves the best."

The way she spoke so highly of Alya made him wonder if she felt the same about herself and he prayed she did. She deserved it all. The chivalry, the reciprocated unwavering love, the spoiling and receiving of absolutely anything and everything she wanted. He wanted to be the one to give that to her he concluded in his mind before returning to conversate.

"You deserve that too Marinette. You deserve to find happiness in another." he told her honestly and she blushed and looked away, her hand reaching up to gingerly tuck a few flyways from invading her vision behind her ear.

"I think I have.." she muttered and he wanted nothing more than to poke and prod into her business selfishly for answers but of course, he wouldn't intervene with her love life because he wasn't her boyfriend, or her crush or her brother. He had no say in the matter so he opted for false obliviousness towards her words as he took his turn of staring out the window in slight frustration. 

___________________________

Once they had finally arrived back to the building, it was deterring onto late six to early seven in the evening and Adrien knew his time for work was done for the day so with a relieved sigh, he walked in with Marinette by his side and was about to clock about before he heard her voice start up, halting his movement in place of the finger scanner.

"Hey, I don't want to extend your time working but we still have to complete measurements." she said lightly and he closed his eyes as he remembered his own and his father's words. 

He nodded and in turn, followed her through multiple elevator rides up and slowed-down traffic through corridors until they reached her studio. It was small inside and there wasn't much of anything inside but a banner for changing, few decorations and framed pictures of her and her family all smiling very wide, an obviously worn easel and a table holding fabrics of all kinds and a sewing machine. It wasn't anything fancy compared to many others' workspace but he dubbed it as a very homey environment. Any place that seemed to be touched by her and was at the will of her decorating always emitted a signal of warmth and joy and he couldn't keep himself from smiling at the photos. He watched as she padded over towards her table, pulling out one of the few drawers and retrieved the measuring tape that would be harassing him for however long.

He nodded and on instinct pulled his shirt off, letting it hit the floor gently given a sleeping Plagg was still trapped in the confines of the material, next his shoes and then he began working on getting his belt unbuckled but not before catching a glimpse of her staring eyes and red face. He inwardly felt his ego rise at the reaction she was giving, however, his own distracted gaze was making his hands fumble over themselves, making her tear her eyes from his chest and to his hands.

"You need some help with that?" she asked gently and now it was his turn to feel like a useless tomato, hands stopping in their place.

He thought for a moment to assess the situation. She wants to help him unbuckle his belt to pull down his pants. Why the hell not? So he nodded with a small smirk threatening to seep onto his features, his heart being as condescending as possible that he was surprised she couldn't hear it from where she stood.

She began to walk over in a slow manner that made his skin crawl in anticipation, his breathing picking up once she was right in front of him, her now much colder hands finding their way to his belt as she carefully unbuckled and untied the now knotted woven accessory. He was practically shuddering at every moment her cool fingers grazed along his lower abdomen and in no time she was done and back to her natural spot in the room, much too far away from him. 

He faltered slightly but wasted no time in pulling his belt off and unbuttoning his jeans, pulling them down shortly after and praying that whatever indecency plagued his mind wasn't obvious to anyone but himself down low. 

She began to move towards him again, her face still a dark crimson as she extended the ruler and walked behind him, letting the cool yellow metal wrap around his broad chest until he felt struggle behind him and a frustrated huff of air against his bare skin.

"My uh- my arms are too small." she meekly squeaked from behind him, her cheek practically squished against his back as she tried to reach her arms around him. He merely chuckled and pulled on the tape, gingerly handing it to her from from his front while she quietly thanked him, checked the size and wrote down her measures in her sketchpad, her hands brushing down his sides to check his waist, then she moved in front of him and dropped to her knees making him suck in a sharp breath and look up at the ceiling to distract himself. That was until he looked down to catch a glimpse of her measuring his thighs and shins, her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip in concentration but her nails grazed over his skin making him swear inwardly at the sweat beading along his forehead and the back of his neck. He was gonna absolutely lose it or worse, pop one out right in her face. He tried busying himself by looking up once more and counting to any number he dubbed calm enough for him and eventually she slowly made her way to his biceps and forearms, then to take the wingspan of his arms spread out fully. Finally, she wrapped the metal around his neck, her eyes painfully still as she took her last notes before she smiled up at him.

"We're all done here. I just have to put these numbers into my computer and you should be set for the show. There weren't any major differences except for your biceps which grew an inch from the last two days miraculously." 

He snorted at her choice of words and nodded at her observation in change and then looked down at his toned arms that subconsciously flexed under his gaze. He was extremely proud of his body now that he had grown into it, not being exceedingly thin neither obnoxiously muscular. He had light abs that trickled down his abdomen and his back and shoulders became more defined over the years of exercise and his gratefully high metabolism. 

"It's actually pretty impressive given not that much time has passed at all. If I didn't know better, I'd assume you're some sort of superhero." she wiggled her eyebrows playfully and he tensed slightly, deciding to just chuckle nervously at her words rather than comment further. Then she shook her head with a far, odd smile on her features, one of fondness that made him wonder what she was thinking about in that moment. Maybe it was that person again. He wanted to know.

"So I have a bit of a personal question." he told her as he bent down to retrieve his clothing and began putting them on one by one while he saw her return from her thoughts with a questioning look on her face, assuming a ready position for whatever he was about to ask, "Who was that uh... That person you were talking about in the car earlier." 

She looked taken back by the question but then let her eyes dance around as she contemplated how to answer.

"Just a new cat that's been coming around my place recently. He's a stray for sure and I haven't seen him in a while." she answered in confidence with a shrug of her shoulders and he glanced her over confusedly.

'She said it was a someone though.' he thought to himself curiously and decided on paying her a visit to see this random 'cat' person she was talking about. He was sure she was covering something up and he wanted to know more than anything.

"Hm, okay. Well I guess I'll catch you later then." he started heading for the door with a wave of his hand before she caught his wrist in her hand, making him still in place.

"Oh wait! Before you leave! A close friend of mine is playing with his band by the river tonight and I have two tickets. I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come by. I was gonna ask someone else but I haven't been able to have too much time for myself to get ahold of them, n-not that you're a second choice or anything! I'd love to have you with me! The guy is actually Juleka's brother, Luka if you can remember him." she said with a flash of her teeth from that adorable smile of hers while she reached into her small handbag and retrieved one of said tickets to hand to him. He looked over the small black paper skeptically and then back at her alluring face and couldn't bring himself to say no, so with a quiet sigh, he reached out to take the gift from her, their fingers brushing ever so slightly and he wanted nothing more than to just grab her hand in his and hold it there forever. 

That's not creepy, right?

"Sure, why not? As long as you're there, it doesn't sound like a bad time." and the room was filled with her coaxing giggles as he stuffed his ticket into his front pocket of his jeans.

They bid their goodbyes and before he knew it, he was clocked out and on his way home Chat Noir style, swinging over buildings and trees, pushing across wind and letting the cool air intrude his lungs in a burning sensation he needed desperately. Today had been a lot for him so he was more than appreciative for the cold weather. 

Once he was home, he heaved a long sigh and detranformed, his eyes feeling heavy and rather than just going straight to the kitchen to feed his empty stomach, he instead headed towards his bedroom, Plagg following behind and retrieving his wheel of camembert from the mini fridge with an appreciative hum of satisfaction. 

Adrien stripped his shirt and jeans, socks and shoes and tossed them carelessly along his floor in an unusually messy manner. Hauling his heavy body onto the bed, his limbs sprawled out while he groaned in delight, finally some relaxation seeping into his veins and smoothing out his tensed muscles in the most delicious way. He shut off his lamp on his bedside table and drowned out his kwami's sloppy eating habits of smacking and slurping; letting his sleepiness work it's magic in weakening his movements. 

He closed his eyes and drifted off to slumber with one particular girl on his mind that he was sure was also going to disrupt his dreams with her overly intoxicating presence and he wasn't sure he minded too much.


	7. It's You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im hittin yall with that back to back update yoooooo this shit is getting crazy son

VII.

Adrien woke up and looked at his clock, seeing that it was only ten o'clock and that he only was sleeping for about an hour and a half. He groaned and rolled away from his clock when he heard a loud Plagg jumping on top of his head in a harsh manner despite his small body.

"ADRIEN! Wake up!" he yelled in his ear with absolutely no remorse and it was quickly beginning to frustrate him. He decided on just closing his eyes and shoving himself further into his sheets in an attempt to shut out the nuisance in his ear out, pulling the covers over his head with a grunt. 

Plagg just phased right through and yelled even louder, "ADRIEN I SAID WAKE UP DAMNIT!" 

Adrien's eyes shot open in rage, ripping the sheets away from himself violently and letting them hit the floor as he sat upright, his still gelled hair now sticking up in every direction and his eyes surely blood shoot with his lack of sleep, "WHAT! What the fuck is so important that you just felt personally obligated to wake me up! What is it Plagg?! Cause unless the city is in danger or Hawkmoth is just randomly chilling at my door then I shouldn't be awake right now!" he yelled hoarsely, his voice sending a boom throughout his room that he was sure any neighbor would've been able to hear but Plagg just stared at him dumbly as if he was the stupidest being to grace the planet and the scrutinizing gaze only pushed him further into his anger, his eyes narrowing and his fists clenched at his sides.

"Well if you're going to be a dick about it then maybe you shouldn't see Marinette at that concert she invited you to tonight that you just completely disregarded." he said uninterested in his chosen's annoyingly persistent temper, looking down at his flippers as if they were nails and any kind of hostility Adrien held for his kwami in the moment was drained from his body as he stared past Plagg at the wall with unblinking eyes, realization seeping back into his mind.

Marinette invited him to that concert by the river. He passed out. 

"Fuck!" he yelled and shot up from his bed in a panic, stumbling around his room and into his bathroom, practically ripping his boxers off of his body and he jumped into the shower for a quick wash, knowing he probably looked like ass and smelt like mouldy cheese. 

After a brisk ten minutes, he removed himself from the beautiful feeling of the warm water against his skin and brushed his teeth, combed his hair and rolled some deodorant on knowing that there might've been a bit of a turn out and too many bodies that would make him sweat. Being with Marinette alone was cause for sweating as well since he was becoming such a sissy around her.

He skirted out of his bathroom quickly, Plagg not even minding that he was completely nude at this point in their relationship while he pulled out clothes from his dresser, opting on just wearing a simple t-shirt, not minding any print on it cause he simply didn't have the time and he stuffed his legs one by one into some boxers then into a black pair of skinny jeans he wasn't sure even fit him anymore. He pushed his feet into new socks and his simple white adidas sneakers before basically crawling across his floor to pick up any kind of mess he just made, shoving shirts and pants back into the drawers in an unorganized manner that usually would make him cringe in disgust. 

He finally grabbed an old green and black flannel he acquired a long time ago and rolled the sleeves up to cuff around his elbows, threw a small satchel around his shoulder and pointed at the open flap for Plagg to get in so they could be on their way.

"First off, idiot, you don't have a car so no stuffy purse for me yet. Second, aren't you forgetting something else?" Plagg stated out with crossed fins over his small body making Adrien look around in a rush, his head dizzy from how fast everything was happening, trying to remember what he might've forgotten.

"Ticket." he muttered to himself and he lunged at the discarded clothes he shed off earlier next to his bed, digging into every possible pocket until his fingers brushed against the small slip. He retrieved it with a successful smile on his lips and then called for his transformation once more that night.

As he ran along the rooftops, in the distance he could see the river in his line of sight, lights shimmering from the area that he assumed was where the band was playing at and loud cheers emerged as he closed in the distance between him and the liveliness of the naturally quiet city at this time of night. Once he felt he was close enough to walk but far enough to not get caught, he dipped into an alley and dropped his transformation letting Plagg slip into his bag discreetly, slipping in his promised wheel of camembert inside and making his way towards the music that was booming through the streets. His eyes squinting more as his ear drums throbbed to the beat of the rock music with each step he took.

It took a good three and a half minutes for him to reach his destination and once he was there, he was pulled into the crowd of dancing teenagers, he was pushed and shoved around in a manner that was making him become more and more annoyed, the lack of personal space and multitude hands on him building a tension in his stomach that he was losing control of less and less until he was elbowed into another teen who shoved rather too harshly at him to get out of the way of the stage causing him to almost lose his balance and topple over others. He spun around quickly to catch a glimpse of the guy responsible and noticed the aggravated look on his face.

"Move out of the way dumbass!" he yelled at him in hostility. The guy was about his height with light brown hair wearing all black, the sugar skull on his shirt being the only sign of color on him and in that moment Adrien decided he had, had enough of the nonsense, going against his better judgement, stepping close until he was in the guy's face, the smell of alcohol evident on his breath. He crinkled his nose in disgust at the boy and knew his lack of morals was because of the lack of sleep, but even naturally, he was graced with the gift of a very thin temper, a gene he could probably thank his father for. With narrowed eyes and a heave in his chest, his eyes met dark brown ones in a heated exchange of a classic stare-down. He was hoping, praying that this kid would swing or push him first so he wouldn't have to feel any form of remorse for landing him on his ass afterwards and by the looks of it, he was just about ready to do just what Adrien wanted when a small figure pulled on his arm gently.

"Oh there you are babe! I was looking all over for you! The baby is kicking again!" the small girl said with a bright smile and a pep in her voice. Just as Adrien was about to tell her she had the wrong guy, he saw her eyes glinting in a manner that told him to just shut up and go with it so he nodded with a smile back and turned to face the rescued teen once more with a firm expression, standing his ground until the girl pulled him out of the scene.

He was taken to the opposite side of the stage and once they were settled there, he decided it would be an opportune moment to see what this girl's deal was, "Hey, not that I don't appreciate the gesture or anything but I could've handled myself back there."

"I'm sure you could have, by the looks of what was gonna happen. However, I wasn't sure that my brother would've appreciated a disruption at his show." she said with a smirk on her face, an, even smaller, girl with short blond hair and wide blue eyes approaching her with a kiss to her lips. It took him a few moments to process her words in his brain and he stared at her in confusion until he felt his brain click, her face becoming exceedingly familiar to him.

"Oh man, Juleka?! You look.... So much more different now." he pointed out her now bobbed straight black hair, lack of all black clothing and dark makeup and his eyes moved to her waving girlfriend, "And hello to you Rose. I'm surprised you two are still together."

"Long time no see, Agreste." she rang out in a cool voice that offset her previous light-hearted tone and Rose just kept waving at him with a gentle smile on her face that made him smile back, his emotions now much more secure than before, "And yeah, couldn't ever bring myself to leave my flower. She's the love of my life." 

They kissed again and for the millionth time it seemed, he brought himself to remember Marinette and how she was probably out in this daunting crowd looking for him. Guilt swam through his gut at the thought of her being ambushed by a bunch of drunken people with absolutely no way of being able to find a way out. What also didn't help with mental kick to himself was that he didn't have her number to tell her where he was at the moment. 

"Well I'm glad to hear you're happy together but I'm actually here with someone and I need to find her." he told them politely, his hands relentless in their pursuit to tug on his hair out of anxious habit. Juleka raised an eyebrow in interest at the sight before rolling her eyes and laughing at his obvious nerves.

"If you're looking for Marinette, she's fine. She just went to go look for you but she texted me a few minutes ago saying she was on her way back. We're here as a group right now." 

Her words soothed him and his heart rate slowed down in merriment at the reassurance of her well-being. He of course would rather see that she was fine right now but as long as he knew she was on her way back he could relax a bit easier. After giving her a nod and an embarrassed grin he turned his attention to the band and decided to take advantage of their close spot to the stage, watching as they jumped around and played their instruments in a hyped fashion. 

The music pulsated in a way that made his chest thump from the amplified bass and he became aware of how similar the genre of their music was to Jagged Stone's who was more than likely an inspiration towards their taste. It was definitely an acquired one but he was a very lowkey Jagged fan ever since he was younger after one of the times he had hung out with Marinette and she played his album on her small stereo. After that he spent a lot of time researching and falling for the guitar riffs and heavy drums and would even catch himself humming or singing songs of his whenever he was alone studying. 

As if at just the mere thought of her name, Marinette made her way through the annoying teens and smiled at Juleka and Rose. Her breathing was ragged and her hair was a mess, most likely from the wind and mess that she just arrived from but he thought he was cute nonetheless.

"Hey! Looks like you found him before I could!" she yelled over the blast of sound and the gothic girl nodded at her words with a grin tugging at her dark red lips.

"Yeah, he was just about to fight some guy when I had to swoop in and save his pretty little head, ain't that right Adrien?" 

The look Marinette gave him made his stomach want to explode in a rupture of butterflies as a worried expression knotted at her eyebrows and made a frown out of her lips. He wanted to smooth out the crease in her forehead but instead he just rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his eyes moving to look down at the concrete, "Uh, yeah heh, lost my cool for a minute." was all he could muster out to her.

She smacked his arm.

"Ow! Hey what was that for?" 

"More than half of these people are blackout drunk! You could've seriously gotten hurt! Do you know how bad that would be?" she yelled at him, not in anger but out of concern and he just nodded like a scolded child, rubbing his arm on the abused area. However, the sting slowly started to dissipate at the thought of how she worded her lecture, making him think back to when she was reprimanding him as Chat Noir for being unsafe around akuma's. His heart warmed at the thought.

"I know how to take care of myself Mari, it's okay. He's not a super-god. Besides, I'm a grown man and know how to handle those situations." he prompted her but she still seemed offset and almost unsure of how to handle his words, like she wanted to have been able to protect him instead. 

'If she keeps doing these things, I'm going to have no choice but to kiss her right here on the spot.' he thought to himself with a shake to his head to clear the notion from his mind. 

His hand found hers in an attempt to assure her and he was relieved to see her sigh in defeat, following up with an apologetic smile and a nod of her head, "Just don't do anything dumb like that again or else you're going to have to take a butt-whooping from me too."

They laughed at her empty threat and he simply agreed to behave, a carefree air now making the oxygen around him more breathable. It slipped from his mind that her hand was in his until she looked down at their intertwined fingers and quickly pulled it away with a blush on her cheeks, her eyes darting to the ground as she laughed in a mechanical way and he hoped he hadn't made her uncomfortable. Before he could apologize for his idiotic action, the band finished their song followed by a loud roar of a cheer from their crowd and the lead singer, who he could only guess was Luka, stepped close to the microphone to speak.

"How's everyone doing tonight?!" the crowd screamed their response and he chuckled with a shake of his head, "Good to hear! This next song is dedicated to a very important girl, she's actually here tonight and I've known her since we were teens," Adrien wondered where he was going with this when Luka turned to face their section, giving a small wink over the loud screams to who he assumed was Marinette given she just smiled and waved back obviously shy from all the extra attention, "My very good friend Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Show her some love!" 

Everyone was going crazy at this point, red solo cups flying, people jumping up and down out of excitement and more than a few wolf-whistles were audible among the cries. He was feeling rather.. odd again for the second time that day as he coiled back in astonishment at the very open dedication to her. 

The music started up again and this time it was just a tad bit slower, his voice booming softly through the mic while he stared at her as he sang. Adrien felt his blood practically boiling at the exchange and it wasn't helping that Marinette had that stupidly adorable smile on her face still, mouthing along to the lyrics and he wondered if this was the stupid cat she was talking about. 

"I gotta.. Go to the bathroom." he grumbled for the group to hear but he knew it went unnoticed, instead just pushing through the distasteful crowd. He was displeased at how he was acting like a child but he wasn't in the mood to care. He needed fresh untainted and unshared air that he was beginning to lack. 

As soon as he was free from the crowd he made his way to the exit and began his walk to nowhere in particular, kicking at a lone rock that happened to share his path. He let his mind clear up and jammed his hands into his pockets as he walked through the night, wanting nothing more than to just flee from all his responsibilities so with a quick 'fuck it' he let himself irresponsibly awaken a sleeping Plagg to call for Chat Noir. He knew no one was watching although he did know it was a very dumb decision to just transform behind a thin tree but he could let himself regret that later. Right now he needed to run.

So he did. He ran and jumped, he swung and dived and maneuvered until he was breathless and covered at least half the city. After a long and pleasant moment to himself he decided to return to the concert only to see people begin stumbling out of the area with drunken laughs and carelessness. The concert was over and the only sound that was left was the sound of reckless juveniles from below the roof he was occupying at the moment. Guilt shred through his brain like a lawnmower when he caught sight of Marinette and the other two girls looking around the group of bodies for him and so he decided to ease her mind on the search for, well, himself.

He hopped down into the decreasing crowd and made his way over to her, her eyes widening when they caught sight of who was quickly approaching. 

"Hey there princess, you seem lost." he quelled out in a calm tone that made her quirk a brow at him. She crossed her arms over her chest as she gave him a once over with her round eyes, trying to give off a cool composure but the surprise in her eyes didn't go unnoticed. Juleka and Rose were on their way to tell her that they needed to start getting home until they saw him as well, eyes wide and mouths open. He simply nodded and subtly shoed them away with a thumbs up and wink that was unobserved by Marinette who still silently grazed her eyes among the people, looking for someone who wasn't going to be there.

"Hello Chat Noir. Sorry but I don't have time to talk, I'm looking for my friend right now and it's getting really late so once I do, I'll have to go." she told him evenly, making him chuckle and roll his eyes in a playful manner. He pushed his hair back with confidence, flashing her a million dollar smile and coming up next to her to put an arm around her shoulders, an audible gasp emitting from the smaller while he walked her towards the exit.

"Does your friend happen to be that model boy everyone fawns over? If so, I saw him on his way out. He told me he wasn't... feeling well and needed to get home. Seeing as how crowded the lot was and the smell of booze in the air is still lingering, I would probably feel the same." 

She looked down, trying to piece his story together and he was thankful for his quick thinking skills that he'd picked up over the years from his Lady as he watched her buy into the small fib he threw her way. She nodded gently in understanding before shrugging her shoulders in a sigh, her hand coming up to rub at her slightly red eyes. 

"Okay, then at least I know he's not lost or something." she breathed, making him mentally fist pump in succession. Turning her head to face him as they continued to walk side by side, their feet making it to the street she continued, "But I do still have to go home. As much as I love being burdened by you, I need some rest. It's been... a long day." 

He nodded in understanding, his arm dropping from his shoulder and he spun on his heel to stand in front of her with a determined expression.

"Perfect. I'll push aside the insult and just give you a ride then." he suggested with a twirl of his baton, extending it until it hit the ground, holding his hand out for her to grab. It wasn't exactly something she could just turn down at this point and there was absolutely no way he was going to have her walk from A to B in the dark, "Shall we purr-incess?"

She looked at his outstretched arm with hesitance. A few seconds passed before he huffed out and gave him an eye roll of her own, silently accepting the offer by slipping her hand in his. He smirked and pulled her dangerously close, their faces mere centimeters apart when he put his arm around her waist securely, earning a blush from her amidst his antics as he shot them into the air. He heard a few people call out his name in surprise and even heard a few 'Holy shit's' as he blew past them and landed them onto a roof top where he carried her bridal style for the second time that day, his legs breaking out into another run which he enjoyed. He especially enjoyed the way her arms looped around the back of his neck and her warm face felt against his chest as he sheltered her from anyone's sight. 

He jumped and skipped along with her in hand and let out his final grunt from pushing his body's limits when he landed on her balcony with a soft thud, his arms slowly moving to let her down safely and she removed herself from his grasp. 

"Well here you are. You can pay for the exclusive express with a kiss right here, ma'am." he teased, tapping his clawed finger against his lips and he watched in amusement when she shook her head and poked her finger to his nose to back his ever nearing face away from her's.

"Thanks but no thanks. I'll pay you back another ti-"

Her words were cut off by a low but very audible growl of his stomach, his face heating at the uncalled for noise and her eyes widening in shock. He cleared his throat and looked away abashed at his neglected stomach's protest in not giving it the food it demanded and it only made his mortification worse when she giggled at the sound it made.

"Have you been feeding yourself kitty?" 

He wasn't exactly sure how to answer her question. It's not like he was intentionally starving himself or anything but ever since he moved out of the mansion, the lack of chefs and butlers to cater to his hunger made it harder for him to remember that eating was in fact a necessity. Between work, akuma's and sleep, he tended to hardly feed himself some days. This was one of those days. 

She only shook her head with a grin on her lips and grabbed onto his wrist gently, her body lowering while the other hand worked on opening the latch to enter her room, "C'mon, I'm sure we've got some extra pastries that I can spare you. Now you don't deserve that kiss as repayment." 

His ears dropped in disappointment as a small 'aww' broke past his lips, the two of them entering her dark bedroom and with a flick of a switch he found that she had walked them to her lamp for light. She let go of his wrist and pointed at her bed for him to sit as she pushed the stairs back into themselves to close the entrance shut.

"Stay here and don't even think about rummaging through my belongings or I will personally ram my foot down your throat for dinner, got it?" 

He nodded quickly at her words and watched her with innocence as she exited through the door. He took a moment to look around the room and asses the new layout. Her bed was still in the same spot just with a different comforter and pillow set, the colors in her room now a bit more neutral than it's previous blinding pink state. Her walls were a light sandy brown and almost all pictures of his civilian-self were taken down besides a few fashion articles of him in expensive clothing or group photos that consisted of himself, Alya, Nino and Marinette. A few inspirational quotes that were obviously painted in her hand writing littered the walls and it made him smile to himself. They were cheesy and a little cringey for his taste but the words fit her personality in a way that made him feel right at home in those walls around him. 

His eyes glanced over her items on the white desk that he guessed was still the one she had from before given the light scratches at it's paint and he noticed a small dark blue book sitting on top of it. He looked around cautiously, slowly relieving the bed of his weight in a soft creak as he carefully tip-toed over to see the words 'PERSONAL SKETCHBOOK. DO NOT TOUCH.' scribbled into the leather in faded black ink. 

Going against the rules of the cover, he let the claws on his forefinger and thumb nonchalantly flip the message over so he could open the book with a quiet tuned whistle and darting eyes. His face heated when he caught a glimpse at the Chat Noir themed bralette that graced the first page and suddenly he was transfixed by the design, making him wonder what else was there among the slightly battered pages. It was a black clamp shut bra with small green pawprints that covered the area where nipples would normally be exposed beneath the laced material, a small green bow sitting in the center and a few black and grey sequins were lined at the frills where the top of the breast line was. He dared to let his claws pinch at the paper to see what else she had jaunted into the papers beneath until his enhanced hearing picked up the soft footfalls approaching the room he was in. Slamming the book shut in a panic, he paced back over onto the bed feeling very flustered still by the unexpected art inside her journal, so of course, being the composed guy he was, he tried to find the most natural spot he could to make it seem like he wasn't just intruding in her personal belongings like she had just told him not to, opting for a horizontal laying position, his elbow propping his head up and his other hand making it's way to his hip while he grit out an over ambitious smile towards the door. 

Marinette came in with a small basket of obviously fresh pastries that smelt like heaven, her face contorted in a mixture of confusion and unexpectedness when she took in his stiff position on her bed. He felt the sweat start to break out onto his exposed skin as he continued to force a smile at her, his body itching and urging him to move from his position but under her gaze all he did was freeze.

"You look... slightly suspicious." she called him out with a narrow of her eyes, looking over her room to check for anything out of it's original place and then back to him carefully.

"What? What book? I didn't touch anything!" he cried out his defense and she just groaned out loud, placing the basket down on her dresser and pinching the bridge of her nose. He just laughed nervously at the sight, almost mechanically like she had earlier in the night. 

"Cat, I swear if I find that you've been looking through my belongings, I'll kick you out like the mangy stray you are." she told him in a strict manner and Chat Noir perked up at her words in shock and shook his head quickly, "Good. I'll remember to hide my things next time you visit just in case."

With her words he finally relaxed with a quiet huff of relief, his body straightening out when he sat back up in an attempt to pop his aching joints, rolling his neck to either side with a sickening crack on his left and right, rolling the heel of his palm down his knuckles as well. He felt satisfied by his personal muse of releasing the tension of his muscles and she stared at him with discontentment on her face at every noise that filled the room, scrunching her nose up and sitting down next to him on the bed, she put the basket between them for space and he looked so ravenously down at the barrier, he could've sworn his pupils dilated at the divine sight before himself, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. She stared at him, disappointed at his lack of eating surely but not surprised when he dove right into beginning his small feast. He ate up her gifted croissants, blueberry and apple scones, two pumpkin spice cupcakes and even managed to have the room in his stomach for a very generously proportioned banana nut muffin until he caught sight of her concerned gaze making him halt with his mouth open and muffin just a few inches from his bared teeth, his face blazing in insecurity. 

He decided to only smile at her through the embarrassment and with his fingers, broke the delectable treat in half, offering her the much larger portion, a few crumbs falling onto her bedsheets, neither of them caring much to address it. She looked... shocked at his offering, an odd but familiar look in her eyes as she just stared. She stared between him and the muffin with care before gently reaching out for it and taking it from his grasp, his smile widening at the ginger action and he began to stuff his face again, his cheeks now double their size from all the delicacies he was holding in them and she looked about the same in her pursuit to finish off the large cake in her hand. 

After they were done, they sat in silence, the only audible sound being Chat's tongue that slid into his molars to retrieve any trapped sugar inside, his eyes transfixed in a distracted gaze on her floor. He noticed in his peripheral vision how she looked down and fiddled with her hands beside him, making him wonder what was on her mind.

"You alright princess?" he asked out of pure curiosity and concern, his face turning to her when she looked away, a small blush grazing her cheekbones in a beautiful way. 

"Do you.. Do you still love Ladybug?" 

The question caught him off guard and he looked at her in bewilderment. He eyes then darted around the room as he tried to decide how to answer. Of course he loved Ladybug. She was his best friend and partner in heroism and he would be utterly lost without her. He adored her brilliant quick thinking and sharp reflexes and appreciated her helpfulness whenever he needed it. He also thought she was very beautiful of course with her blue eyes that were paired with long thick lashes and noticeable curves but as he was sitting there, in Marinette's room with a now empty basket between them, he realized he knew absolutely nothing about Ladybug. He loved her for as long as he could remember but having spent so much time with Marinette as both Chat Noir and Adrien made him realize that he may not have exactly been 'in love' with her anymore. 

"I do." he told her in truth but quickly took her hand in his, the action making his elbow knock the wicker basket back, minimizing the space between them in an appreciated manner as he continued, "but I'm beginning to think there might be someone else I may have fallen in love with."

Her face was beat red when she whipped her head around to look at their intertwined fingers. He wasn't sure what he was doing or where this was going but he couldn't deny the feeling that bubbled in the pit of his stomach whenever he was around her or heard her name. He knew that this felt right. Being here with her with their hands pressed together felt like the most natural and beautiful feeling in the whole world to him. His mind then shot back to when she made him promise to be more careful and how she called herself plain. But god was she anything but. She was strong and smart, funny and intelligent with a hard head and a drop-dead gorgeous face to match her wits. Stubborn? Yes. Too little self esteem for herself? Maybe. Had a terrible habit of putting others needs and feeling before her own? For sure. But she was wonderful. He wondered how something so perfect was able to just walk about her day saying she was just an ordinary girl and lettin herself believe it but he knew the truth. He knew how amazing she was, flaws and all.

He didn't realize he had voiced his thoughts out loud until he saw tears collecting behind Marinette's eyes, his own widening in a wild panic when she began sniffling lightly.

"Marinette! I'm sorry, please don't cry! I didn't mean to-to make you cry I just- I-"

"Chat." 

Her quiet voice made him clamp his mouth shut, his teeth accidentally biting down on his tongue but her beautiful features had made the painful notion fade to the back of his mind. She shook her head and let out a watery laugh, her nose now slightly stuffy and her hand making it's way to his face as she stared at him with such happiness despite her tears, "You really mean it? All of it?"

He wasn't sure if it was because of her hand on his face that made him intoxicated enough to do such an idiotic thing or if he just had to let his trapped emotions out after years of denial and rejection but he couldn't stop himself from just letting out a trapped guttural sputter of disbelief before he thought with his heart instead of his brain for the first time in 19 years.

He pressed his lips to her's in a fevered manner, exhaling through his nose in satisfaction when she paused but kissed him back almost immediately, her hands tangling into his hair and tugging slightly while he hands found their way to squeeze on her hips. He put every ounce of consideration and tentativeness into the passionate kiss, opening his mouth and gliding his tongue into her own only to brush against her teeth. She inhaled harshly, choking slightly on the mix of tears and intensity before she let herself melt into him completely, her mouth opening in acceptance and he groaned out happily. He had never imagined such a simple gesture could make him feel so dizzy and drunk but he figured he needed this, selfishly wanting more as he pushed her back onto the bed, his arm momentarily leaving her side to shove the basket off of her bed completely out of impatience, her hand moving down to grasp onto the back of his neck; deepening the motion considerably as he put his knee between her legs. It took every ounce of willpower not to rip off her clothes and take her right then and there but he was able to control himself for now. He let his hands slip under her shirt, retracting his claws to grope at the supple skin of her sides, not going too far up to uncharted territory, but enough to make his skin heat uncontrollably. 

She let out sweet noises that sent him into a frenzy, the gentle whimpers and exhales against him made him giddy with delight, a bloom in his chest that kept growing and growing despite the desperate pleas of his more immodest side threatening him that their moment would need to wrap up soon if he wanted to make it out of there without pushing too far into their exchange. 

His heart was racing and his breathing felt ragged as heaves ripped from his chest in an almost animalistic way, a growl emitting from his lips when she tugged harder at his locks that made her shiver beneath his touch.

'Kid, you're losing it.' Plagg said to him but he couldn't remember what he was losing until he heard the sound of a loud rip, looking down to see that he had in fact torn Marinette's shirt open, but from the way she didn't break away from his kiss made him wonder if he should stop, his lips trailing to her cheek and then her forehead, down her T-zone, her nose, mouth again, chin and then he decided to make a bold move by sliding his tongue sloppily along her neck out of the rise in his ego at every giggle and wince she produced. God, how he was ready to just finish up this little session with a good love mak-

'Kid! It's time to go! You're starting to get a little handsy and unless you're ready for the guilt trip tomorrow I suggest we leave.' his kwami told him in a harsh voice that he would have thought Plagg was actually there in his face saying it, 'I know it's hard cause of how heightened everything is due to the suit but trust me, you're not ready for this yet.'

Oh christ but he was. How he was ready to just let her see who has been there all along and get a taste of what he's been missing. Just a taste. Her lips were undoubtedly not near enough to quench his rising thirst.

But he knew better thankfully and finally he pulled away from her, his face hovering above her own shocked one and he dared to let a smirk grace his bruised mouth when he caught sight of the dark blush and swollen lips, a few unintentional bruises gracing the base of her neck and bottom of her jaw in dark purple hues that made him want to do it all again. They both were breathing heavily as they stared at one another in a hot exchange, her hair tangled and her eyes lidding at the sight before her. 

'I need to get out of here' he thought to himself and slowly lowered himself to give her a gentle kiss to her cheek in a very sweet contrast to their previous heavy make out session. 

"It's getting late princess." he told her in a low raspy voice that made visible goosebumps graze her skin and his eyes shifted towards her now tattered shirt that left little to the imagination when he caught sight of the lacy white number she kept hidden below her suddenly unnecessary clothing and he had to shake his head to rid himself of the intruding lust that seeped in him like a broken faucet, "As much as I would really love to show you how much I meant those words, this cat is going to have to let you fawn over him for a bit longer. Unless this was something you just did in the heat of the moment." he let his last words trail off, hoping for the best but given his terrible luck in love, expecting the worse.

She stared at him silently, letting her hands fall to her sides while she turned her head in attempt to cover her red face but he just used his finger to push her cheek gently, making her face him again with a longing gaze. He smiled down at her beauty and leaned down to press a lingering peck to her nose, his eyes shutting for a moment to savor her smell and the feeling of her being so dangerously close until he backed away and crawled skillfully off of her bed, sauntering towards the window and unlatching it, letting three words he wanted to say so desperately drift off in his mind and hang in his throat. Just as he grabbed his baton from his latch, she spoke up in a meek voice.

"It's you." 

"I'm sorry?"

He turned slowly to face her once more and saw her sit up, grabbing the sheets to cover her now very exposed and very distracting chest as she looked at him breathlessly, her smile becoming brighter by the second.

"I've been zoning out all week thinking about someone and today I was finally caught by my friend. When he asked, I told him that I was thinking about some dumb stray cat.."

He stared and lingered in interest, nodding his head gently for her to continue, not minding about the teasing insult she threw out but instead hanging onto every word she was saying, dying in anticipation for her to say those words he needed to hear and then she let out a breathless laugh, her hand resting gently against her forehead as if hit by a blunt force of realization.

"It.. It's you. It's always been.. you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahahaAHAHAHAHA


	8. The Boys are Back in Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the spaced out chapters, im back in school and its been kicking my ass but here you are

VIII.

Adrien walked towards the nearing coffee shop in sight with a slight skip in his step and a dazzling smile for show like he always had the past two months after his annoying ego boost from he and Marinette's kiss confession. The looming Gabriel Agreste fashion show had seemingly long since passed and the leaves were starting to fall off the trees as winter time neared around the corner. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that the first couple of days after, he believed it was all just a trick of a dream.. or a shady nightmare his mind was toying him with until another visit ended like the last and the next... and the one after that and the one after that and he was no fool when it came to women's feelings for him. He knew that she had been completely drawn to him at this point although he was taken aback by how much she had. While he was used to affection being thrown his way and flattering attempts at catching his attention from others, he had never truly realized how amazing a particular person's undivided attention towards him could be. It felt liberating and utterly exhilarating to say the least when being around a person so intoxicating and his mind began to wander to his Lady who he had used to swear up, down and all a-fucking-round he loved, however, as the time passed and his moments with Marinette became more frequent, he realized that he had put her on a very high pedestal. Of course, he was but a teenager and couldn't help admitting that she was definitely carved out beautifully, her curves soft yet prominent and her gaze could make any sane person's knees buckle but he couldn't shake the undeniable hold Marinette now had on him. He felt pitiful at times when his kwami reminded him how wrapped around her finger he was but he had begun to accept the ultimately punctual truth. 

Their relationship wasn't defined and they held no title as a pair but they had both very much known that they were currently only seeing each other. He hadn't longed for anyone else or even felt a pull for any other woman like he had used to given his dumb hormones, which he was fine with either way. No pining or want for anyone other than his old classmate that made him want to sigh dreamily and rip his heart out at the same time. 

All thoughts of the persistent woman in his mind were faltered and soon warded into the back of his skull when he spotted his best friend waving for him in the back of the shop he had padded into subconsciously. A larger smile washed over his features causing a few others to smile in the shop at the sight as he pushed his hair back and made his way over to his old pal. 

As he neared the newly found man before him he couldn't help but chuckle at the women and men staring in his direction, whispers of who he was beginning to draw the attention of a few more. It was amusing to him how excited people got over a normal person like him. He finally stood face to face with his childhood pal and they both let out an audible sigh in unison, perhaps from the joy of being in each others presence again.

"Oh man! You really grew a few inches haven't you?" Nino teased with a raised brow, standing abruptly from his squeaky chair making heads turn their way that they diligently brushed off with absolutely no care. They clapped their hands together in their familiar handshake and then hugged, giving the other a pat on the back. It was warm and happy and the air around them hung with reunited excitement. Nino was a good year and two quarters older than him, almost two years which gave him a big brother aura that Adrien had grown to label him as. The thought of having someone else who he basically considered family made him feel as though happy families like his still existed. Like there was someone out there who loved him for him and not for model boy Adrien or Chat Noir. Excluding his princess of course.

After a few moments of hugging and another couple of jabs from Nino, they stepped back and took in each other's appearance. The man before him was about two maybe three inches shorter than himself which made him mentally cheer given he had always beat him out in the height department back in school, he had also noticeably gotten darker since moving to the states it seemed and his signature orange snapback no longer hid naturally curly hair from sight. He had it shaven around his head and the curly tuft of hair that sat on top of his head was tied up into a surprisingly neat bun. He had a couple of piercings in his ear and one silver ring that sunk into his eyebrow in a cool tone that popped out. He had also seemed to take up Adrien's advice of growing his facial hair, opting on a goatee that was lightly stubbled along his chin and jaw.

"Given your unusually tamed hair I'm assuming Alya is around these parts as well." he guessed with a point of his finger at the location of interest on his skull making a laugh emerge from Nino's mouth and a grin tug at the others.

He nodded and rubbed his hands together, "Yeah, yeah she is. She's going off to find Marinette but since she still lives at the bakery, I'm thinking that she's already cornered her in a wall while they scream about something." he chuckled and Adrien did as well at the thought. It was amusing to think that they still acted like middle schoolers around each other like the time had never passed but it was even more comical when he realized how well he was able to picture the scenario. With a shake of his head, he and Nino both sat down simultaneously taking notice of his opened laptop and clunky headphones connected to his setup sitting sloppily on the thin desktop lid. He raised an eyebrow to his friend out of curiosity.

"Duuuuuuuuude! You need to put these bad motherfuckers on and get ready for an eargasm of a lifetime." he winked, holding the headphones out to a rolling-eyed Adrien that took them without hesitation when he saw his excited expression. As soon as they were set on his ears, almost immediately the low bass of an instrumental boomed in his sensitive eardrums that made his head bob along to the beat that was smooth and rhythmic but was also gradually speeding up as the seconds passed, light blips and trills following along with the claps that rolled in signaling climax, the background sounds following in perfect sequence. As the song began to pick up, Adrien looked up at the man who watched him eagerly. Pointing to the headphones he mouthed, 'this is you?' 

Nino nodded vigorously in response and he snorted, most likely much too loud for the quiet shop given he couldn't hear his own thoughts let alone control his volume at the moment. A buzz started to incline with the beat and it raised in pitch as steady bumps turned into quick paced thrumming until the bass died out and a chime rung out along with a woman's very feminine and very sultry laugh dragged out the silence. Then, in a well placed crash, the bass dropped again, hard, the EDM sounds blending perfectly with the subtle ad-libs that were thrown in as well which rung in a familiar voice that he could tell was Nino. The song continued and Adrien couldn't help head banging along with Nino. Surely the music was loud enough for everyone to hear and he was glad he wasn't listening to the quick paced masterpiece alone. 

Once the song ended, Adrien ripped the headphones off of his head and practically yelled out, "You're a fucking artist bro!" clapping his hand to Nino's again. 

Many other's stared at the sudden outburst and his friend laughed with a wheeze, his free fist covering his mouth as he nodded slowly, "Am I right?! This shit bumps! I could make a living off of this if I could only find the right connects." 

Adrien beamed at him proudly, he could've sworn that this man was truly already some sort of famous celebrity, one as big as Jagged Stone. With another brief shake of his head he interjected Nino's subtle kick to himself over lack of recognition with his own reassurance.

"No, no. I think it's time for the people of the fine city of Paris to know who Nino Lahiffe truly is!" his voice raised as he said his name and his friend only grinned at the foolish boy-like shoutout before he continued, "And Nino Lahiffe is one talented ass man. I'm setting you up with an agent. I know you said you wanted to do it 'on your own' or whatever but I'm tired of waiting for people to see your talent. You deserve to be in the spotlight."

He finalized his sentence with so much sincerity that made him swear he had seen tears collect in the other's eyes, the glasses not doing much to conceal it and he sniffed with a red nose, "I don't know how the hell I managed to have the most amazing fiancée and the dopest best friend in the world. I'm truly lucky to have you guys in my life."

Now it was Adrien's turn to sniff despite his lack of knowing his overflowing emotions at the compliment and let out a watery laugh, the both of them refusing to let tears fall but showing their emotions on full display for each other to see. They had absolutely no shame in their reactions and so they sat there completely contented with each other's presences, their eyes not breaking contact as they mentally thanked whatever brought them together.

"I'm twenty-one, quit making me look like a bitch." Nino joked and they laughed together for a while, wiping at their eyes and after the subtleties, began catching up with one another merrily, not a care in the world. They spoke of how their lives were going and where they imagined they'd be in the future. Nino made subtle jabs at his slightly noticeable blush when Marinette was brought up and then teased some more when he blushed even harder at his jokes. They then talked about how America was and Nino droned on and on making arguments on how annoying the supposed president was there, the conversation heating up until they were politely asked to leave due to the overwhelming disturbance. The staff almost insisted for them to stay when they noticed Adrien but he only laughed and raised a hand in a polite dismissal of the offer, the both of them deciding to start getting a move on. 

As they walked out of the store side by side, Nino leaned against him as they cackled and snorted at the jokes and banter they shared. Adrien clapped his hands together in a thunderous crack that was sure to be heard miles out, practically gasping for air at this point when approaching a cross walk that they pushed the button for.

"So dude, Alya and I have been theorizing," Nino began, making Adrien let out a quiet 'oh boy' that didn't go unnoticed but the darker man continued with skepticism, "And I bet her fifty bucks that you and Marinette are together now."

He turned to look at Nino with wide eyes, sputtering and a blushing mess once again while he eyed him over, "What?! M-me and Marinette? No way, she's just my friend. She's always been a really close friend to me." he told him honestly but not completely truthful to him. 

The sign lit up, signaling for them to walk and Nino opted for silence for the moment as he led them to the hotel that they were staying at, just a few blocks down from the bakery. 

Everything seemed so close to that bakery nowadays. 

They took the elevator up to the third floor, the only sound that broke the comfortable silence was when Nino would readjust his satchel that carried his personal belongings or when someone else entered. By the time they had reached the floor, Nino already had the magnetic key for entry at the ready, his hand swiftly pushing the card in until the green light appeared upon the handle, granting them access to the inside of the small but cozy room they had. It was a master suite that had a huge king bed in the middle, a small bathroom attached to the first left wall you see when walking into and a mini fridge/microwave area to store and cook food. Their tv was no 56" of course but was a nice size given the hotel, their drawn orange curtains and opened blinds pouring in the only source of light but the bright sun being enough to show him that the left half of the bed held bags upon bags of girly makeup and clothes strewn across them that were undoubtedly Alya's while Nino's portion of space held equipment and a simple duffle bag of clothes. He decided to plop onto the bed with a satisfied sigh and grabbed for the remote from the bedside table that was on Alya's side. He turned the television on and flipped through channels while Nino removed his bag from off his shoulder, discarding it gently onto the ground as to not hurt such precious cargo before letting his hands squash together and tap against his chin in thought, sitting on his side of the bed with his back facing the blond.

After settling on a channel and being pulled into the Tornado Chasers that broke out on the screen, his friend finally cut the silence that had been looming since the crosswalk, "Why are you lying to me?"

His voice was dangerously low and unusually serious which made Adrien's head snap in his direction so quick that he dubiously cracked it with a loud pop, "What?" 

"Alya told me Marinette and Chat Noir were 'talking' recently." he made air quotes when he said the word, making Adrien gulp at such a blunt confrontation and Nino turned around to face him with a sly smirk, "So, when did you decide to start 'talking' to Marinette?" 

He was speechless at not only having his bluff about 'just friends' being called out but at having his identity potentially compromised. Just as he was about to open his mouth to protest and defend that the idea of him being Chat Noir was completely ridiculous, Nino only shook his head and laughed.

"What, you thought you could hide it from me forever? You're straight up crazy. You know we are best friends right? And that I'm engaged to Alya. I found out like a year after he was introduced to Paris. I knew it was you who gave me that damn turtle miraculous." he told him casually, now getting settled into the bed as well and taking the remote from a now motionless, gaping Adrien as he flipped through the channels boredly.

"Wh-But. I-. But how?!" he managed to stutter out, his gaze now gliding over to him in shock.

"Funny story actually, you know, transforming in the school bathroom isn't exactly the grandest plan in the universe. Especially not when that was one of the best places to hide at. I mean, I never once saw an akuma in the bathroom. Not once! But don't worry, Alya doesn't know it's you and I haven't told anyone until now. You have my word." Nino promised and Adrien sat there mentally kicking himself for allowing himself to be naive enough to think it was safe to transform in a public area. His gaze flickered to his hands in disbelief and bewilderment for the time being.

He took a moment to then look at the wall in front of him to let his words fully sink in, his panic now turned into slight relief and mortification at how reckless he realized he was. He could only nod at his accusation in conformation given there was no point in dejecting a comment with solid eye-witness evidence backing his case. His throat seemed slightly drier now as he croaked out a soft 'yeah' and chuckled at his friend.

Nino took the moment to jab his elbow into the blond's ribs and wiggled his eyebrows at him suggestively, "Sooooo? You and Mari, huh? What about Ladybug? Thought you were obsessed with her." he asked in curiosity and a small weight felt lifted off of Adrien's shoulders at the light exchange after such a heavy, at least for him, topic.

"Well uh, Marinette and I aren't dating, w-we just happen to be reserved for one another I guess. As for my Lady, I think I put her on too high a pedestal. It was an unhealthy and unrequited pining and I guess I've just always had surfaced feelings for Marinette that I'd bury deep down out of devotion to Ladybug." Adrien sighed as he explained, his head in his hand while he vented and Nino nodded at him to continue, "I actually used to spend a lot of time with her when we were kids and I love being able to now when I have the time which has been pretty limited for a while now. Still, I give her my attention when I can, I'm just lucky enough she doesn't give up yet."

Nino let out a 'hmm' and sat up slowly, patting Adrien's back heartily once he did, his hand clapping against the hard surface, "Well my friend, this is a classic case of, 'finally you fucking woke up' on our hands." he said with a shake of his head, his curls bouncing in place as he did so.

Adrien laughed at his wording but couldn't help but agree with him, a long sigh dragging out from his chest as Nino advised, "I suggest that you go for it. Don't let your feelings for Ladybug hold you back from it any longer. Marinette is just as interested in you as you are in her, Alya has told me. She's beautiful, sweet and funny and you are an awesome dude with and without that mask. You're gentlemanly and not many guys or girls are like that nowadays but if you don't lock that up then another person will. Trust me."

He took in Nino's blunt, genuinely honest notice and thanked him for helping him with such a demanding subject that Adrien had battled with alone until now. He had never been more grateful for a friend than in that moment. Until his friend asked another pretty hard-hitting question.

"How long is she not going to know who it is behind the mask though?" 

Adrien raised his brow in thought, slightly perplexed given he genuinely hadn't even really thought that far ahead, "Well, honestly, I haven't even thought about revealing myself to her. At least not yet. I wouldn't want to scare her off or worse.." 

'Disappoint her' he thought to himself but didn't let the words make it passed his lips out of fear of the teasing that might ensue. 

He didn't notice how Nino shook his head and muttered something under his breath now that a new matter had come into play in he and Marinettes already confusing relationship. 

Then for a split second, his mind wandered and let him wonder what his princess was doing with Alya right now.

 

\----------------------------

"Girl I will burn you with this curling iron if you don't. Tell. Me. Everything." Alya demanded and although Marinette wanted to continue to protest, she knew her best friend wasn't known for making empty threats, so with a sigh she raised her hands above her head defeatedly.

Alya didn't look much different than before, just tanner and her hair no longer held it's usual short bob cut like it used to but instead was grown out just below her breast, the orange to blond ombre still laced into her appearance in a bold statement that brought out her light brown eyes. She still wore her famously clunky glasses that framed her features nicely while her only major differences was found evidentially in her physical features. She was always on the bigger side and it was never a bad asset given that now she had grown into her curves and god-like physique kindly and Marinette let herself think about how lucky Nino was and how much of an asshole she was being towards Chat for slightly checking out her best friend and former girlfriend. She let herself remember the demand and sighed as she started to answer.

"Okay, okay... So... we made ou-"

"MADE OUT?! OH MY GOD MARINETTE YOU UNTAINTED SOUL!" Alya shouted through her thin walls that was sure to have captured neighbors and passerby's attention, if not them then her parents. She shushed the other with a finger to her lips and a giggles causing Alya to smile and grab onto her friends shoulders tightly, "Marinette this is a huge deal though! Adrien is back in town and after years of fawning over him, you turn around and back pedal to 'annoyingly punny' Chat Noir? I thought you said you weren't for it?" 

"First off, I'm not untainted thank you, and secondly, I wasn't at first! At least not when I was fourteen or fifteen." she told her honestly, looking from her friend then down to the sheets on her bed below them, "And then he rescued me from this mugger guy and he started visiting me again. Over the two months I've realized how much of a sweetheart he can be even when he's upset. He's always been like that of course but now that he's grown up he's just... more collected and composed. He was gone for so long I guess I didn't realize how much his stupid puns actually made me laugh until he started firing them again."

She cringed inwardly at the confession, never wanting to admit that she had let that come out of her mouth but Alya only squeaked happily at her friend, "Marinette! This is the time for new opportunity! You're about to hit twenty in a few weeks and you've already got a new way to start the new year!" Alya practically screeched in Marinette's face, her eyes wide at the burst of energy this girl always seemed to have.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you play coy with me Dupain-Cheng. This is the time to set it up and get down to it. Maybe Chat is the guy you'll end up with in your little fantasy world. The knight in shining armor you wanted so bad." she winked and Marinette avoided her gaze with a huff and a cross of her arms, a visible red hue dashing along her cheeks in an unsavory way, "Look, I'm not saying you should sleep with him but I'm just saying that it wouldn't be a bad idea to yanno... Loosen up a little and live your life after denying yourself the satisfaction for years because of model boy."

"Alya!" Marinette yelled, her eyes shooting open at her friends conversational tone and loud cackling at her gaping reaction.

"Look, you spent years longing for Adrien and then I helped you out, ifyouknowwhatImean, ahem, and then you still continued to fantasize about him. Sure you had a fling or two but now you seem pretty invested in this new guy. Take advantage of this moment. It doesn't come around often." 

Alya's advice was extremely compelling and caused Marinette to look down in thought, even ignoring Alya's gesture towards their previous amorous sessions, as she tapped her chin lightly. She hummed out in response before nodding her head gently, then violently, "You know what? Yeah. You're right. I'm a grown woman and I should enjoy the time I have. Life is too short."

While she did still have very noticeable feelings for Adrien harboring at the iceberg of her emotions, she knew that her new want for Chat Noir was becoming increasingly piqued with every visit and she was finding herself wanting to delve into those emotions more. She saw him for who he truly was given her lack of the mask and she saw him as a truly entertaining, sweet guy that could make her genuinely happy and melt into a puddle all at once. There were, of course, doubts and worries about his identity and not truly knowing who he was but she knew that she trusted him as her partner and as her friend. It was evident he cared for her too and he reminded her in gentle touches or praises and compliments she couldn't help but get flustered over, christ, it was like learning to walk again whenever he would kiss her. 

There wasn't a single doubt in her mind that he would deliberately hurt her and so she didn't see the harm in taking up the advice her friend had given her or denying herself of the feelings she may have had all along for him.

After a long moment of silence and thinking, Marinette jumped off the bed and slid smoothly into her desk chair, mentally thanking whatever higher power for not activating her clumsiness in that moment, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled out a note to which she then folded neatly and placed in her pocket without a word.

Alya had a clue of what it could've been about but instead of hounding, she changed the topic to give Marinette her shred of privacy back. 

"So... I wanna see the ring." Marinette smirked as she sat back down criss crossed on the bed in front of her friend the both of them shrieking as she held out her left hand for the both of them to fawn over. She took the girl's hand into hers and examined it closer with surprise at how big the stone was.

"Oh my god, you lucky girl." she breathed out under her breath and Alya laughed.

"I know! isn't it beautiful? I mean the first one was literally a ring pop and he knelt in the kitchen whoch wasn't ideal but he made a cute dinner with candles, music and roses but little did I know that the sneaky bastard secretly saved up for this mountain and then re-proposed at this beautiful restaurant." she gushed out happily and Marinette was so excited for her best friend that she hugged her tightly, whispering how proud she was in her ear as she felt Alya return the hug cheerfully.

They continued to talk, rant, debate and watch movies until it hit ten o'clock, the moon now shining bright through her open skylight and Alya decided to say her goodbyes before leaving for the night but not without promising to make a grand return tomorrow to which Marinette obliged happily. 

After the long hugs that they had to make up for in lost time, Alya exited her home and left Marinette to pull out the small paper from her pocket. She read it over a few times, deeming it worthy enough to leave and pulled open her trapdoor to enter her balcony. After looking around for a certain pair of prying eyes and finding that the coast was clear, she made her way over the railing, taping it on securely before discreetly returning to her bedroom.

Once she was inside again, the warm air now invading her cold senses from the cold wind, she turned off her lights, waved for her kwami to come join and stared at her ceiling.

"Waiting for somebody Marinette?" Tikki asked with interest and she just dismissed her with a shake of her head.

"Not tonight Tikki. Tomorrow is gonna be an early day with Alya so I need my rest." she stated and Tikki only giggled before wishing her chosen a goodnight that she returned sweetly with a kiss to her forehead.

Twenty minutes passed with her staring tiredly at her ceiling fan until a soft familiar thud from above pulled her from her zone out, hushed footsteps tapped along the ground in a gentle manor that she guessed was in an attempt to try not to wake her if she was asleep. It was a very gentlemanly gesture and she felt a smile tug at her lips when she heard them near the end of her balcony where the railing was, right over her bed. 

There was a few moments of silence when a beautiful laugh emitted from beyond the wooden paneling and concrete which was now practically music to her ears. He jumped from her roof to her window and peered in, his glowing green eyes almost beaming in like LED lights through the dark as they scanned around and despite the fact that he probably couldn't see her, she heard him mutter out a gentle, 'goodnight my princess' through the glass before hopping away with a grunt. 

She was shocked to find her heart racing at such simple words that meant the world to her and she couldn't suppress the childlike giggle fit that racked through her, only stopping her fangirling when her kwami stirred and she opted for quiet cheers.

As much as she wanted to hear those words from him in person after a heated exchange or a world famous head scratch slash cuddle night, she knew that if she wanted to play this game smart, she'd have to play it safe for a while and space was the safest option for the time being. She needed to prepare and ready herself for the time to come because deep down, she knew that when the perfect time came, she would know how to handle it. Marinette sighed dreamily at the thoughts running through her mind of her black cat but eventually let her drowsiness come barreling down onto her.

\---------------------------

Adrien climbed into his window, a pungent and sickeningly sweet smile still worn on his face that made his cheeks hurt and his facial muscles sore. He called off his transformation and with the paper still folded neatly in hand, he unraveled it and read it over and over and over again while Plagg retched and gagged behind him when he echoed the words dreamily.

He let his eyes trace over the delicate cursive that flowed along the page in fluid strokes as if cursive was her native writing print but he found it so beautiful and so, her, that he didn't mind having to strain his eyes to read the letters. 

"C'mon kid, I'm tired and I know you are too. Let's crack open a wheel of camembert and then hit the sack." Plagg suggested and Adrien only nodded, still transfixed on her adorable penmanship.

He followed Plagg from his bedroom to his kitchen table where he oddly decided to munch down at despite Adrien's lack of attention. After the cat finally finished, Adrien followed him back into the room but not without clumsily bumping into certain objects, his eyes so glued to the words that he didn't notice his toe being stubbed or his side being jabbed twice, actions that usually made him swear profusely in pain. Once inside his room, Adrien stripped his pants and threw on a more comfortable sweater and an older pair of black basketball shorts, tossing himself onto his bed carelessly and sighing giddily at the paper.

Plagg rolled his eyes at the sight, shaking his head and floating towards the lamp to shut it off, leaving them in the dark and causing Adrien to huff in disappointment at his lack of night vision. Instead of switching it back on to further inspect the letter, he held the paper close to him and closed his eyes, bidding the kwami a goodnight and drifting off.

\----------------------------

'Dear Kitty,

I can't hang out tonight since I have a friend in town I haven't seen in so long. I'm afraid that almost this whole week may be booked but don't worry, I know how much you'll miss me in the days to come. However, Wednesday I'll be free so meet me at the balcony you first took me to on valentine's day at nine o'clock sharp. Don't be late!

Signed,  
M. D-C.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i made adrien give nino the turtle miraculous. cant be fanfiction if its too close to script yanno?


	9. Dead!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS TOOK SO FUCKING LONG IM SORRY AHH

IX.

Something stirred inside of Adrien's stomach as he watched Marinette prance around the work space in a light, airy manner; her feet seemingly skipping smoothly across the wood while she grabbed her tape measure and some pins from her desk. A smile never left her face and her eyes were so squinted from her chubby cheeks that he wondered how she was able to see what she was doing. 

At the moment she was designing a suit for the upcoming Casualties fashion show and given that his father had commenced their departure from the line, they requested Marinette's help on a formal wear for Chat Noir's side of dress which she obliged to hesitantly and decided to keep under wraps until Adrien visited her. She panicked of course and told a lie about how she was just having some fun with new supplies she got and he would've believed her if not for her natural flighty eyes and stammering however, against his father's order's, he promised her wouldn't let him know about her private operation. He felt himself beginning to grin as she hummed a familiar tune that they used to listen to when they were kids together, one he had dedicated to her before he left and suddenly he forgot he wasn't Chat Noir in that moment when he walked behind her and hugged her close to him as she worked. His cheeks burned at the physical contact when he heard a squeak of surprise from the other, her body stiffening slightly as she turned to face him with wide surprised eyes and he hoped that the fondness in his was leaking out like a broken faucet. 

"A-Adrien?" she questioned his actions in a quiet voice. Now it was his turn to panic and stammer like the idiot he was, reluctantly letting go of her and putting at least five feet of distance between them.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry Marinette! I just uhm, I guess i just needed a hug?" he defended although it sounded more like a question that a valid statement, his hand rubbing the back of his neck out of nervous habit, She cleared her throat and nodded with a smile making his thank his stars she didn't think he was some freak perv who was trying to feel her up. Not that he was! But.. well... you know.

"It's okay, I understand. Consent is important though." she winked and giggled turning back around to face her work making him choke on air, his face reddening even more, "You okay there Adrien?" 

"Just dandy!!" he yelled, his voice cracking as he cleared his throat and rubbed at his burning features, not wanting to show his emotions for her so clearly, "Sorry, but um, how's the suit coming along Mari?" he asked, his voice an octave lower than usual in an attempt to make up for the prepubescent tone it had just taken on.

She nodded her head looked to the clothed mannequin in determination, her eyes focusing on stitching the last few seams and buttons on the black coat, the usual light mood she gave off returning in the instant she was focused again. He was grateful for it.

"Hey so, ahem, how's your day been today? I heard you and Alya went out this morning." he said attempting to make conversation with her which was seeming to become progressively harder without a black mask on in the passing months. He watched her nod gently again, walking over and taking a seat behind her desk to jut down a few things in her notes before pushing the mannequin behind a new shoji screen in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun! We went out for some sandwiches at an old shop we used to hangout at when we were younger. We caught up a lot and she told me a lot about her new life over in the states." she said with happiness in her voice, the elated vibe rushing towards Adrien like a freight train that he resented, she continued on, "She also talked about Nino... A lot. I also got to run into Luka again which was pretty cool, he seemed pretty nervous to be caught by me though." 

He squinted his eyes at the mention of the blue haired boy from the concert and youth. He was no idiot nor blind when he saw the way he used to look at her and he'd be damned to be stupid enough to think he wouldn't still be attracted to her in present time. An overwhelming kick of possessiveness gnawed at the edges of his mind and shriveled in his stomach like an ache from bad food being digested. He rolled his eyes but was the picture of pure innocence when she swiveled on her heel to face him. 

'Play it smooth Agreste.' he thought to himself and folded his hands on top of the table, their eyes meeting briefly as they exchanged smiles.

"Well it seems my time for work today is finally finished, thanks for keeping me company up here, I appreciate it. I don't get visitors often." she thanked and he nodded curtly in response with a small hum.

They both made their way out of the small room, his eyes being slightly blinded by the much brighter lights outside of the comfortable four walls they had been closed off behind. It was nearing four and it was almost time for him to leave as well so he bid her a quick goodbye and allowed himself to unwillingly return to work. He was lucky to have been able to pull of an hour of being with Marinette and not be caught but even then it was pushing it. He was sure many people were probably losing their heads wondering where he went and so, with his feet dragging along the floor in loud screeches from the soles of his shoes, he made his way downstairs and into the main lobby where surely enough, many people awaited his arrival. They all crowded around him like a flock of pigeons with him being the bird seed and questioned his whereabouts and asked for signatures here and there for their paperwork.

"My boy where have you been?! I've been looking everywhere for you!" a man named Sir Jauqe De'Marqui approached him, his thick french accent raising. He looked flustered and Adrien embarrassedly offered him a shrug to which he responded with a look of disapproval. He tsked with a shake of his head, grabbing Adrien's arm and pulling him away from the crowd of other's into yet another office to be entrapped for another hour or so filling out documents of release from Casualties as well as a few others his father decided to drop. He stayed longer as they tried to hold a meeting for him to discuss the clothes he had modeled during the last photoshoot and which ones he had preferred.

His eyes, half lidded, skid across multiple different pictures of himself on the runway in different outfits, his voice staying its usual monotone as he either pushed them away or kept them on his left side for favoritism, "Trash. Trash. Okay. Trash, Okay, Okay, Okay," he droned out, a sigh escaping from him as he felt the pile begin to dwindle under his touch, the feeling bringing an unbound joy in him that didn't reflect on his features while he continued to shuffle and swap photos he wasn't sure of yet. He finally broke it down to the final two and one was of him in a large brown t-shirt, cuffs rolled up slightly as ripped white skinny jeans adorned his legs, making him look much taller. 

His hair was covered in a black beanie and the shirt was tucked into the band of his jeans, a jean jacket completing the mostly plain look and he cringed while slightly pushing it towards the littered end on the table with a grimace on his face. 

Call him what you like but he had the fashion sense of an Agreste and hated jean on jean concepts. No way he was letting that come out unscathed. 

The final picture was the one that made his eyes widen in surprise at the outfit he had forgotten he'd worn. It was the only one consisting of all black material, a black baseball cap turned backwards so his face was visible with unmistakable triangles that represented ears sat ontop, a large black t-shirt that was tied behind his back with the words "Bite me" checkered along the chest of the shirt in green, small pawprints lining along the hem of the material. His eyes wandered down to the pants that were black and also slightly ripped but the frayed portions were also dyed green, his shoes also taking the black counterparts with neon laces. The entire ensemble reminded him of his alter ego and there was no doubt in his mind who could've made this amazing piece. As much as he wanted to show the picture off, scream that it was Marinette Dupain-Cheng's work to the entire building and make eight hundred copies to tape everwhere and set everyone desktop covers to it, he knew if he had been caught wearing something so spontaneous, people would start to draw conclusions. Just because he was too blind to figure out who Ladybug was doesn't mean everyone else was so naive.

Instead of trashing it along with the others, he subtly slipped it into his pocket with a light clear of his throat, nodding his head towards Jacque. With a snap of the man's pudgy fingers, another much taller man with a pencil thin mustache arose from the crowd to start shredding the pile that didn't make it, the rest going into an unneeded briefcase without problem. He let another sigh escape his lips and stood to his full height, shaking everyone's hand and heading over to the machine to clock out for the day. He wanted so desperately to go home and transform just to run over to Marinette's but of course since he knew that was his biggest want, he had planned to pick up a patrol to avoid breaking his princess's wishes. 

Soon after leaving his workplace, he walked around the dark city he had grown to love more than any other place in the world and ducked himself behind a large dumpster to call on his transformation and jumped into the sky with as much force as he could, landing himself on top of a roof. He made his way to the first stop which was the Eiffel Tower, looking below unto the citizens who still continued to wander out at this time of night. He searched and preyed for any sign of danger and when his heist turned up empty, he hopped along to the next side of town, the side Marinette lingered on. He made sure to pay extra close attention to the few stragglers that would check to see if the bakery doors would budge or not and he held his breath every time, baton at the ready until they left. Another thirty minutes and he was off to the next block. He continued his patrol in quiet, the only sound being those beneath him, the tapping of his feet, the ragged breath that left him and the light thunder that rolled smoothly throughout the dark cloudy sky. It rumbled in his chest and gave him a washed feeling of success as he neared his final pit stop for the night, his eyes beginning to feel heavy from the lack of work and serene sound of thunder above. 

Everything seemed peaceful for once in the small city of Paris and he couldn't be happier to be already on his last pit stop when he heard a man yell from below causing him to screech to a halt, his heels skidding across the ground to stop him quickly so he could get a peak at what was happening from below.

There were two men dressed in all black, another, much smaller man was on the ground curled into a tight ball, his body being the target for their feet as they pounded relentlessly on his forearms and ribs. Without a moments hesitation, he jumped down on top of one of the men's head, knocking him unconscious. He took the other man's surprised reaction as a opportunity to hook his arms around his waist, hoisting him up above his head and then throwing him off towards the open road. 

The man groaned in pain an reached inside his large black trenchcoat but Chat knew better, running over towards him and stepping painfully down onto his wrist with a sickening crunch, the object he was reaching for sliding past his reach on the concrete. His eyes looked over the small silver handgun in annoyance, such a primitive and overused weapon of choice in his opinion he though as he let his hand connect to the man's face without a problem, his eyes rolling back into his head which signaled that the coast was clear and Chat could help the older man on the ground. 

"Are you okay, sir?" he asks genuinely and helped the poor small man onto his feet, his bright red Hawaiian shirt seeming familiar to him but he pushed the thought aside as he caught sight of the black eye and bloodied nose that swelled on his face. Guilt fed on his mind at the sight before him.

"I'm okay. Thank you, young man. You truly were built to be a superhero." he smiled and smeared the blood against his forearm in an attempt to clean his face. 

Chat smiled back and offered to walk the man home but with much resistance and compromise, he was convinced to let him make it out on his own. After the mystery elder was out of the way, Chat took the moment to phone the police and carry the others' bodies to lean against the wall. With the gun in hand and the beaten weirdo over his shoulder, he cleaned the scene quickly and without much trouble. He threw the gun into the nearby dumpster after clicking it's safety on, given he had told police where to find it in case they'd tried to find it and then slid the random man against the wall. He then made his way over the other he had knocked out first, a large knot formed on his forehead and Chat winced at the bruise and shook his head.

"If people like you didn't do what you did, this wouldn't have to happen." he spewed, sarcasm lacing in his voice as he knelt down to pick him up until a sharp sting entered his leg and then his side at an almost lightening fast pace. 

"If people like you didn't do what you did, this wouldn't happen either," the once unconscious man said to him and he looked down to find a rather large pocket knife lodged deep into his side just inches below his rib cage and a matching slit on his thigh. The blood made no effort in containing itself in his body like it was supposed to and made him dizzy in confusion. It looked terrible, skin open and blood spilling but in a hurried heat of anger he gave the man a hard punch to his jaw, the sound deafening as his heart hammered in his ears. He let himself collapse to the ground, his injured leg screaming at him for straining it by standing and his side making it's extra limb known. 

'Kid that isn't looking good. We have to get out of here.' he heard Plagg echo in his head among the swirling questions and worried exclamations. 

His teeth barred and a growl escaped his teeth as his hand came up to his side to shakily hold onto the golden knife inside of him. Where it's not supposed to be. Where nothing is supposed to be. He had taken knife hits before, been shot at by robbers and akuma's. He had been hung, tazed, bitten and rammed into but this..

"Plagg this doesn't feel right. Something's wrong. Really wrong." he cried out as his shaking intensified and left him heaving on the ground. His hair began to stick to his head from the sweat and light rain that he hadn't noticed since the oddly calculated events that took place, "Plagg.." 

'Go Adrien, go. C'mon we have to go to a hospital-'

"No hospitals! We can't. Fuck I'm gonna-" he began, getting ready to pass put from the overwhelming amount of pain that surge throughout his bones, his stomach filling with bile and his lunch wanting to find it way out through his mouth again. 

He suppressed the sobs that racked through his being and used his baton to help him stand upright, "Fuck!" he yelled in pain, the sirens in the distance becoming clearer than they had been before and Chat blinked in a daze, an exhaustion plaguing his being before he came to his conclusion on what to do.

His foot slipped slightly against the weight of his body and wet ground and he struggled to finally stand straight but once he accomplished the suddenly overbearing task, he extended his staff and took off.

He sloppily hopped along the sky, trying his best to move as little as possible til he finally was faced with the view of a balcony, the much harder rain clouding his vision slightly and without much care for trajectory, the dropped harshly onto his uninjured side and rolled until he was face down on the wet wood.

It took ten minutes for any sound besides downpour over him to emerge in his ears. 

"Kitty? I thought we agreed that tomorrow would be bet-" Marinette began with a smile on her face but it quickly dropped when he saw his unmoving body. With a gentle giggle he watched as she rolled her eyes and poked at him gently, "This isnMt a very funny joke Chat. C'mon it's raining really hard."

He groaned out a response and flipped over to face her. He watched as her expression went from playful to absolute horror at the reveal of him laying in his own blood on her balcony, knife still snugly knit into his punctured side. She screamed and he couldn't make it out for anything passed fuzziness, almost like he had cotton swaps deep in her ear canals. His view of her was obscured by another womanly figure that came overhead to help Marinette lift him up and place him inside of her room.

Suddenly a sharp sting was felt inside of him and made him twitch uncontrollably, an unattractive mewl breaking through his throat as it tore through his burning chest. He couldn't move and he couldn't talk. He could barely make out what they were saying but he saw the larger girl rush out of view to grab something and Marinette's face contorted into something from a person who'd watched a natural disaster unfold. He suddenly felt guilt try to gnaw at the part of his brain that wasn't imploding from the overwhelming amount of pain. 

Marinette's eyes were a waterfall and her mouth a black hole that kept opening and closing with the supplication of words he just couldn't decode at the moment although he genuinely was trying to comprehend the syllables. A towel it seemed was thrown her way and she was crying, but didn't hesitate to begin her steady work of cleaning the room while the other paced around the room on her phone, digging and searching for objects that could save his foolish ass. He felt it way before he could hear it, the magic slipping from his body and into his ring and the only words he could finally muster was, "Transformation, failing." 

She didn't hesitate to yell for the other girl to do something else and although she seemed frustrated with all the antics, she complied willingly and without hesitation. His eyes were squinting now, his chest heaving through the fire that raged inside of him and he felt the cool air that was surrounding his bare hands. That's when all the lights in his mind went out and he succumbed to the flames, letting himself burn for his stupidity and leaving Marinette with the random girl who were desperately rushing to push his soul back into his stiff body. 

__________________________________

Floating.

His feet were about five feet off the ground and every step he took was surrounded by another sheet of thick unwavering fog. He didn't understand or know where he was or could be but something told him that this was the place he was supposed to be at for the moment. He turned around to explore but from the ground, a giant mirror at least twenty feet tall emerged with roots in tact at the bottom, his eyes widening at the sight before him. 

He was Chat Noir no doubt, despite his unclothed hands when he would look down at his casual attire. there was something odd about his superhero reflection was making unusual sense to him. This was him. His true self. Despite the addition of mask and leather, his personality as Chat was true and honest to his genuine person. He was a dorky, annoyingly persistent flirt to one who made ridiculous puns and joke at perhaps the worst moments. Suddenly he loomed down at his hands and they were covered in a dark purplish veiny hue that made him want to panic but he knew there wasn't anything to fear. He was already here and there wasn't anywhere to go. This meant something. His kwami appeared next to his reflection and floated around as they both laughed over something the small cat said. He then blinked and the Chat Noir image was replaced by his normal Adrien Agreste one with his own body now clothes in his usual leather while Plagg floated around him soundlessly, his smile replaced with a serious expression and he kept spinning until he stopped in front of his face with a sigh. 

"Adrien." he tsked, his eyes closed as his flippers rubbed at them harshly, a firm tone in place of his usual charismatic one that caused Adrien to stutter without fail.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked him and suddenly everything seemed familiar and his eyes widened with surprise, his mouth agape while he stammered out his response.

He gulped down the anxiety that crawled up and down his spine and shivered away the fear that caused his hair at the nape of his neck to stand.

"I-I'm dead aren't I." he asked although he stated it more matter of factly than questioned and with a solemn nod, Adrien allowed his mind to fall from the fog and into a new area unbeknownst to him. It was bright and almost blinding and caused him to cover his eyes, a wince making it's way past his teeth. Before he knew it, he was inside the room he was just in before. 

"Marinette.." he breathed with uncertainty as he watched her stitch and sew his side up, his leg already sewn shut as his bare skin glistened with sweat and beamed a sickly white hue. A black mask covered his face and his hair was thankfully already a hot mess due to the humidity of the area due to pacing an heavy breathing. He was recognizable as Chat but not as Adrien and he was thankful however, his entire body was on full display before her besides his boxers. He raised his eyebrows as he watched Nino walk into the room in a daze, his arms wrapping around who he now identified as Alya and Marinette sobbed her way through the final stitch. She crawled forward slowly to place her ear against his chest for a beat, a sign, something that she was clinging to desperately and his heart suddenly was noticed in his outer realm's chest when the only sound heard from beyond the world that he was currently checked out of was her blood curdling scream of realization. He was dead.

He was dead.

"He's dead! Oh my god he's dead! Chat please! N-no no. No." she cried into his neck while Alya and Nino looked on in their depression, Nino clinging harshly onto Alya while his own face paled.

He was dead.

He was dead.

He was dead!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha happy spooktober


	10. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is upset and Adrien is dead. >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter of the book :(((((( hope yall like it :((((

X.

He was baffled at the sight of his friends sobbing over his lifeless body and felt the major pang of guilt that bubbled and brewed deep within his stomach. He watched as Nino paced around, knowing he was the only one who knew what the severity of the situation genuinely was. He saw Alya try to calm him down, not getting too close to push him over the edge but she wordlessly was attempting to coax him down from his emotional tirade. 

What really made his knees buckle and non beating heart throb was his observation of Marinette who sat on her knees before him, motionless, no detection of any emotion other than mourning in her eyes, completely silent as she shuddered with every breath she took. Her face was stained with dried tears and new ones that couldn't seem to end as they rolled down her cheeks like a broken faucet. Her hand was stuck in his cold limp leather clad one and she squeezed as though if she did hard enough, he would jolt upright from the pain. His eyes burned with tears in hatred at his unwavering pale complexion, at the sweat that had tousled his hair more than it was, at the fact that his own eyes weren't opening. That this wasn't a game or a prank he was doing to surprise her. He hated that she was hurting. All because he wanted to play with fire and turned his back for much too long. 

"Miraculous, isn't it?" Plagg stated firmly and Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at the oddly perfect pun for the moment. He closed his eyes and let the fresh tears roll down his mask until the fell to his boots, a seemingly sadistic grin wavering on his lips as he began laughing, cackling even at the irony of the situation. He was holding his sides and fell to his ass until his was cradled with his knees to his chest.

Thats when the sobbing induced, the howling of his cries echoing in the void he was trapped in. Although he knew he has been here previously and most likely multiple times, he could never remember how he could leave. There was dread in his heart and sorrow that filled his bones with the wrath of a thousand knives stabbing into his head and chest, causing him to heave through the pain. 

"Cheer up, kid. We always get out of these things." his kwami tried to comfort but he couldn't bring himself to lift his head from his knees. He continued to rock himself back and forth, the feeling of numb uncertainty making him dizzy and offset while he gasped for air every once in a while. Plagg continued to watch from above and eventually once Adrien was tiring himself out of crying, he allowed himself to let Plagg get closer to him, the cat snuggling into his locks of gold as he sighed from above. 

"Listen, I know it seems terrifying just like it does every time, but trust me, once Ladybug uses her lucky charm again, you'll be good as new with minor injuries." he reassured and that's when his head snapped upright in a motion that most likely would've broken his neck from the intensity if he wasn't already dead.

"Ladybug! Fuck, she's gonna be all alone out there! There's got to be another way Plagg. Please!" he begged, his eyes wide and face flushed a bright pink and must to his dismay, his kwami stayed silent, a gentle shake of his bulbous head concluding his hypothesis of fear and anguish. 

He would be stuck here until the next akuma was unleashed and Ladybug had to defeat it on her own.

\------------------------------

"Nino, just.. just calm down, please." Alya persuaded, nearly a beg as her fiancé continued to run rampant around her room. A sense of dread filled the room as they continued to bicker over his lack of emotional control. Marinette couldn't help but tune them put as she continued to stare at her lovely Chat. Her resting Chat. So much like a prince in waiting for some curse to be removed and not like a dead man that lay on her chaise. Her grip was deathly tight around his loose fingers, her knuckles white with strain but she couldn't bring herself to let him go. Her eyes were sore of crying and her nose was blocked with a unromantic amount of mucus that caused her to resort to breathing heavily out of her mouth. She gently let her free hand shakily wander to a stray lock of hair that covered one of his closed eyes and pushed it back until it was behind his ear, a domestic smile pulling at her quavering lips as she leaned up from her position on the ground, legs numb and wobbly, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek as if it were expensive porcelain that could break with a feathers touch. Her eyes betrayed her wish to hold back the river as she registered how cold his exposed skin truly was and she let her lips fall to the shell of his ear as she whispered, "I won't let them get away with this minou. I will make sure they pay for taking you away from me." 

With that she finally kissed the hand in hers and let him go, pushing herself up from the ground despite her lack of strength and bambi like composure. He smoothed put the new wrinkles in her pajama pants and walked her way over to Alya and Nino.

"I need time to figure what to do and where to put him. I'll update you both but please, I need.. I need to think. Alone." she insisted as politely as she could, her voice gruff with depression and the cracks in her throat ripping out disgustingly so.

The new voice surprised both of them and caused them to clamp their mouths shut quickly at the sight of Marinettes distraught face. They both looked equally as beat and decided to heed Marinettes advice of hitting the high road and calling it a night. As Alya packed up her belongings and Nino waited by the door, Marinette hugged herself to keep calm in front of the two of them, just long enough for them to make it out the door at least.

"Mari.. I'm so sorry. I-.. I'm sorry." Alya whispered with a wobble in her bottom lip and she could only nod in response, a stoic expression masking the hell bent storm raging inside of her. She allowed the two of them to hug her simultaneously, not making a move to reciprocate the affection being given and they were almost out the door when she piped up for a final word,

"Please.. Don't tell anyone about this. About what you know. Not yet." she breathed and they nodded in agreement.

Once they had finally left in what felt like hours later, she finally let herself get everything out, starting with everything on her desk. She screamed and writhed in her sorrow, threw her pencils, her books, her new clothes from designs she tampered with were flung onto the wooden floors of her bedroom with no remorse for them. She continued to let out her steam in the most destructive way possible that made her want to pick it all up just to do it over again, but finally, as she picked up an old snow globe she hesitated with her arm stretched behind her, ready to shatter it when she looked it over once more.

It was a parting gift that Adrien had given her years ago, a small statue of liberty next to a little replica of the eiffel tower sat beside each other on a plastic bulb that represented grass. There was the small white particles that were freely falling from their previous position that landed along either monument and she let herself sink to her knees once again, her eyes unable to cry anymore but the hole in her body growing larger and larger and she continued to cradle the object closer to her chest. There was a sigh and sniffle before she decided to stand up and walk back over to her kitties side, a look of longing strewn across her face as she placed the snow globe in his hands and closed his fingers around it.

"What I wouldn't give to have you breathe for me again." she whispered solemnly and she finally placed a white sheet over his long, dead corpse. 

Tikki hovered wordlessly behind Marinette, fat, bubble-like tears cornering at her eyes as she watched the melt down from beginning to end, hurt in her body to see her owner in such a condition but mourning for her own love who was trapped inside the ring he wore. She continued to silently follow and observe even as her owner crawled into bed and turned off the light, even when the hours passed and she wouldn't sleep but only toss and turn with uncertainty, never facing the way his body was. Even when she finally did fall asleep and wept like that a child even in her realm of slumber and Tikki couldn't help but hurt for her. 

\--------------------------------

Marinette's eyes were so crusty by the morning that she let them stay closed, despite the orange hues that covered her eyelids due to the sunlight. She guessed it was sometime in the afternoon but she couldn't bring herself to care or call in to work. She was numb inside and out and she let herself mourn in her silent ways, mope from the discomfort of her bed and think about everything but him. 

Until she heard a giant crash from the outside of her room, the crash causing the entire building to rumble along with it and suddenly she was sitting upright, her eyes forced open as she stood up and skirted across the floor to look out the window at the source of it all.

A woman, middle-aged and dressed like some sort of 80's love child was prancing around the town, flinging cars and kicking off buildings that caused them to lean or a hole to take place of the stepping stone.

"Yoohoo! Ladybug! Chat Noir! I'm Disco Maniac and it seems I need your miraculous and then I'm coming for you Mayor!" she belted out in song through a megaphone that made Marinette cover her ears at the missed notes and off tone. She quickly snapped out of her odd trance and headed over to her bed where Tikki was laying, causing the small kwami to fly up in her face in confusion and slight worry.

"There's an akuma out there! Paris needs our help." Marinette informed, with a gesture of her hands and although Tikki seemed a bit distracted by something behind her, she only nodded with a determined look on her face.

She grabbed her kwami and headed up to her balcony before transforming behind a plant and swinging herself into action, the pang in her chest rising when she remembered of the absence of her partner. However, she couldn't let herself get distracted if she was the only one able to defeat the akuma at the moment.

She ran along the rooftops and swung around until her eyes set themselves on her new target down below, her screeching voice making those around her, cover their ears in dismay. What she also noticed was their lack of movement and wide eyed looks of panic when they tried communicating and found themselves unable to hear each other. This caused many of the civilians to begun running in chaos until the akumatized victim belted out, "Find me the supers and hand me the mayor!!" to which they all unwillingly listened to, many of them scrambling into alleys to look for her and other's heading to the city hall. 

"If I'm gonna do this, I have to ensure the mayor's protection but I need to be vigilant on taking this akuma down before she brainwashes other's to do her bidding." she said out loud, forgetting momentarily that no one else was there to heed order and pitch ideas with. She shook her head and changed trajectory to the city hall and began her advances to secure the mayor's safety. 

She zoomed passed many of the victims below her and had made it there before anyone else could but she knew her time was limited, and unless she wanted to become a deaf, zombified victim, she knew she had to act fast.

As soon as she crashed into the window of the room, she saw the man in charge hiding behind his desk with a can of pepper spray grasped tightly in his pudgy fingers, his hands shaking with uncertainty.

"Mayor Bourgeois, come with me. We have to get you to safety and quick." she stated with an outstretched hand and he widened his eyes at the sight of her surprising presence. He cleared his throat and placed the can into the inside of his blazer's pocket and dusted the imaginary dirt off his sash.

"Ah, ahem, yes. Thank you Ladybug." he smiled and sheepishly took her hand, cowering closer to her once the banging of the doors commenced. He let out a girlish scream in her ear and clung to her desperately to which she gave a deadpan look and a groan.

"Like father like daughter." she muttered to herself and wrapped her arm around his waist, hoisting her yoyo up and flinging it toward the farthest object she could have it latch onto. 

Just as she was off was when the door was finally kicked in but she was gone in a furious flash of red before they could catch of a glimpse of what they had lost. She carried him bridal style as she ran along the roofs of Paris, her heart hammering in her chest while she leapt and swung all the way to the other side of the city until she was on the bank of the Seine, a familiar ship coming into view with her target in sight.

She landed with a thud on the wooden floor of the musical pirate ship and with a courteous knock of their door, she was greeted by a familiar face that was none other than Luka.

"Ladybug? What are you doing here with.. the mayor?" he asked in a cool voice although his face was etched with unadulterated confusion.

"I don't have much time to explain but I need you to keep Mayor Bourgeois safe. You can keep him in the lowest floor of the ship but I need for you to stay inside at all times, got it?" she explained as quickly and as into depth as she could for the moment's being and with a curt nod from Luka and a thanking from the mayor, she smiled and threw her hand up in a goodbye before running off.

"Okay Tikki, the mayor is safe and all that's left is the akuma. I'm not too sure of what to do though. If I get to close I have the risk of becoming controlled but if I keep at a distance I can't find out where the akuma could be." she told her kwami as she breathed heavily, her running only ceasing when her ears were met with a rough and disgruntled version of Abba's Dancing Queen. Her nose drew up in second handed embarrassment as she knelt behind a shrub for disguise.

'Maybe you should use your lucky charm' Tikki offered and Marinette face palmed at the lack of common sense she had at the moment. Everything just seemed so much more difficult when she was working alone and didn't have an annoyingly adorable cat to keep her company anymore. Her chest tightened and she had to close her eyes to rid her mind of the thoughts.

But they kept coming back stronger with each breath she took and every moment seemed to weigh her down and diminish her energy.

'The akuma Marinette! Don't forget about the akuma. Keep him in your mind but don't let it affect your hero work!' 

She rubbed her temples with her fingers and nodded with an exhale, her eyes opening once more in focus as she stood up and called for her lucky charm. The item fell from the sky and she looked at it with confusion.

"A box of matches? What am I supposed to do with these?" she asked herself and began to look around for answers. She grew increasingly frustrated with every moment that it didn't work until an idea struck her mind, "Of course! That's exactly what I need! Good thinking Tikki!" 

As soon as Marinette detransformed, she ran over to the only place she could think of while maneuvering her way through the streets to avoid the akuma and those afflicted. As soon as she had made it, she quickly barged in without trying to make too much noise, grateful there weren't any customers around as she did.

"Master Fu! I need your help, there's an akuma out there and the lucky charm led me here!" she explained hurriedly, her chest heaving more than usual given the lack of suit and Tikki, zipping over to the convenient plate of cookies set next to Wayzz and the gramophone. 

"Where's Chat Noir?" he asked with a quirk in his brow and Marinette gripped her shirt where her bruised heart was, her eyes widening at the unexpected question and although it was obvious he wondered why she needed another if he was already there, the interrogation was bound to open the floodgates if she explained now.

"There's no time to tell you but I'm alone and in need of assistance." she told him sternly and he grinned before walking over to the gramophone, his usual spiel beginning as he unleashed the miraculous from their usual hiding spots. She looked over them carefully and scratched her chin.

"I need someone who would be able to defend and distract as much as possible for as long as their able to but I also need someone who's light on their feet and not easily swayed." she told herself with concentration, her other hand gliding above each miraculous with careful consideration before she decided on Trixx's miraculous.

"Are you sure you'll be able to finish the job with Rena Rouge?" he asked as more of a way to boost her up than let her doubt herself and she nodded with a determined and unswayed expression that made him smile proudly.

Just as she was on her way out with Tikki following close behind, Master Fu caught her attention once more after placing the antique object back of his desk when he said, "May your losses be fixed with the luck of the lady." 

She was frozen in place for a moment, with her back turned to him but she decided that stalling and asking what he meant would mean taking up more time with a rampant akuma filing the streets and demonizing innocents. She had to act quickly if she didn't want the situation to become a rerun of Zombizou. After transforming, she quickly made her way over to the hotel Alya had informed her she was staying at a few nights prior and flew in through the, thankfully, open window. She looked around cautiously, not wanting to startle anyone in the area but needing to get the job done quickly. That's when Alya emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a towel and droplets of water on her skin that caused Marinette's face to beam a bright red.

"Oh Ladybug! What's going on? Am I dreaming of that one threeway thi-" Alya began and she choked and sputtered before cutting her off sharply.

"N-no! I uh.. Ahem. Alya Cesaire, I am granting you the fox miraculous. With this miraculous, you will help me defeat the akuma waging war on Paris' streets on Hawkmoth's behalf. You will help me take her down to purify, protect and rid Paris of evil. After, you will return the miraculous back to me. Can I trust you?" Marinette asked hurriedly, her rushed words almost jumbling together like the end of a bad car commercial but the taller girl only chuckled and shook her head with a wink.

"You know you can trust me Ladybug. This isn't our first rodeo." she said with a calm voice before putting the necklace on and calling for Rena's transformation.

Once the girl before her was clothed in a superhero costume, they both made their way out of the hotel and sprung into action. They ran along roofs until Ladybug spotted the neon bright leg warmers that carried terrible singing along with it, "Okay, so her power is that when your within at least a ten foot radius of her, she can deafen you from other's and control your actions based on what she says. The goal is to find a way to not get deafened and find where her akuma could be." she explained carefully and Rena nodded along in understanding as she followed instruction. 

"Okay, leave the distracting and finding of akuma to me and you can take the beatdown. I'll help if needed." she said and Marinette nodded curtly before they both went in different directions, Rena towards the commotion and Ladybug to the other side.

"Hey there miss! Seem's to me you're in the wrong decade, can I ask why?" Rena Rouge jumped into the street with a grin and the victim looked at her curiously.

"Huh? You're not Ladybug or Chat Noir. I suppose you do know where the mayor is, don't you?" she questioned back and the fox-like hero shrugged her shoulders with closed eyes.

"I don't actually, however I heard the eiffel tower is a place of interest, however, speaking of interest, I love those leg warmers! Tell me where you got them at girl!" she fake shrieked in excitement which caused the 80's queen to confusedly smile at her in sincerity, obviously not thinking much deeper into her words than a compliment.

"Oh! I've actually had these for years! They were a prize in a sing off that I should've won and now, I did!" she squealed with delight and through her excitement she didn't notice Rena's quiet 'bingo' and the playing of her flute.

Before she knew it, a giant steel cage was surrounding her and the metal was seemingly soundproof, all of the words she tried desperately to say were shut down by her mirage. Ladybug took the moment to makeshift a few knock off cotton swabs from the shirts of those afflicted she would dodge or fight and shoved them into her ears and then called for her second lucky charm of the day which was a roll of duct tape. She looked around curiously to see where she could use it. The cage, her megaphone and Rena all lit up in the usual red and black that showed her the plan she needed. She stood above the cage where Disco Maniac currently was trying to run herself through despite many failed attempts, and called out to her new partner from below.

"Rena, I'm going to drop down on the count of three and once I do, I need to you to be ready to take the Mirage down, got it?" she yelled and Rena gave her a thumbs up as the crowds of brainwashed Parisians began closing in on them presumably under Maniacs order from within her quiet confines. Her eyes narrowed in focus as she began her countdown with a small breath of exhaustion, "Three,"

Disco Maniac grabbed her megaphone and began screeching into it, many of the dazed beginning to pick up their pace towards Rena but Ladybug knew what she had to do and she was going to succeed, "Two!"

One step closer to bringing down Hawkmoth and another step closer to making sure that her chaton didn't let himself die in vain. Not for himself but to protect those around him, "One!"

She'll be.. okay one day.

"Drop it!" she said just as every victim swarmed the city street like bugs, disgusting bugs who's intentions were to bring their miraculous back, "Switch!" she yelled and used her yoyo to pull her back off the street and onto the roof she was just on to avoid getting hit by the new screech that boomed throughout the streets and alleys, the mirage crumbling away just as all those she controlled trampled her to the ground, stepping on her megaphone and breaking it in the process. Her neon eyes blew wide in rage and her fists began pounding on people's legs to get them off of her 'immediately or there will be dire consequences' before Ladybug finally jumped down over her, her legs on either side of the woman's body as she used her yoyo to knock people of out the way and create a space. Once she decided it was clear enough, she knelt down and smiled at the pale woman.

"Sorry about that but maybe you should explore other passions." she quipped while quickly duct taping her hands together with ease, barely any struggle at all.

"B-but singing is my calling!" she cried out, the loud waves of sound not affecting her given her quick thinking of earplugs and she shrugged before readying a new thicker piece of tape after taping her legs together.

"Well, on everyone's behalf, you probably should've hung up." she laughed and just as Disco Maniac sent word for her zombies to attack her, she laid a thick 'X' along her mouth to seal it shut, ripped the fuzzy bright green and pink leg warmers off her shins and jumped back up onto the rooftop that Rena Rouge was currently located. 

A small black and purple butterfly began to try to make it's way to recovery but before it could get any farther than Hawkmoth wanted it to, she whipped out her yoyo and opened it up for revival.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma, time to de-evilize!" 

Her hand flung the opened yoyo towards the floating insect and caught it with ease like she normally did and ended the capture with her usual, "gotcha." 

"Bye bye little butterfly." Rena and Ladybug both said at the exact same time, causing the girls to giggle and smile at each other happily despite the sweat on both of their foreheads and exhaustion that ran deep into Marinette's bones. She felt her eyelids beginning to droop and the weight of the night before hung over her like a foul piece of roadkill around her neck. 

Just as she was about to say her goodbyes Rena Rouge shot her a questioning look and said, "Hey Ladybug, I know I'm kinda a rookie and all but I'm pretty sure if you want to make sure all of Paris is back to normal, you have to work your magic." 

A lightbulb went off in her mind and although her actions were a bit slow to start, she face palmed and grimaced at her idiocy, "right, sorry about that, I've been... pretty distracted lately." she defended and looked out to the tarnished city, wondering how long she would continue having to do this alone and if she would be given a new partner now, despite how much she didn't want that. 

"M-.. Miraculous Ladybug!" she yelled and threw her previous lucky charm into the air with as much force as she could muster, her body feeling weak and yet the magic of the miraculous ladybug still made her feel like she had accomplished something incredible. She smiled at the sight of cars and buildings returning to their natural state, people looking around confusedly and shaking their heads as they began to disperse from the scene, the woman in control then turning back into a normal looking woman and she looked sadly around her. Marinette couldn't help but jump back down to confront the confused girl with Rena behind her back, tired smiles on both their faces as she knelt down to her sitting position in attempt to be at eye level. The other's eyes immediately welled up with tears when they shared eye contact, a look of disappointment washing over her features as she looked down at her leg warmers.

"I'm so sorry Ladybug.. I- I didn't mean to cause harm to anyone. I just.. I wanted to win so bad and make my wife proud of me. I'm so so sorry." she sniffled and hugged the furry cloth to her chest. Marinette smiled wider and put her hands on the woman's shoulders with confidence.

"Hey, it's okay. Anger and sadness are emotions we as humans are prone to. It's not your fault that you can't control them. As for your wife, I can't speak for her but, I'm sure she's always proud of you no matter what. If she loves you, then a a dumb competition shouldn't make her love you any less." she pepped her up and she finally looked back up at her with hope in her glistening eyes that made Marinette believe in the hope of the future of Paris. That one day she will be able to avenge her partner and take down Hawkmoth. It had to happen.

"Thank you Ladybug. I think.. I owe an apology or two to her now. Thank you, really. You as well Rena Rouge!" she smiled and wiped away her tears before Marinette helped her up to her feet and she took off running. 

Rena Rouge walked in front of Ladybug with a quirk in her eyebrow, a serious expression taking over her usual playful one as she analyzed something that she couldn't decode, "You... remind me of someone. Someone very familiar." she began but before she could analyze any farther, both of their pieces of jewelries began beeping, signaling them that their time was up.

"Oops! Haha time to detransform, c'mon." she said in a rush, dragging the other girl into a closed off alleyway that was under construction and allowed her to return her miraculous even with the slight hint of disappointment she had.

"Man, it gets harder to part with Trixx each time." she chuckled and placed the necklace within the small box, her eyes lingering on the piece of jewelry before she smiled and closed it, outstretching her hand towards Ladybug's to which she took the box with relief. 

Each time she deals out the miraculous she's continuously faced with the risk of someone either running off or refusing to give it up without a fight but she trusted Alya more than many other's and was thankful for her courage to perform and honest word. 

After they bid their goodbyes and waved each other off, Ladybug was already on her way back over to Master Fu's, her tired arms burninf with the sensation of her body weight's strain on the muscles but she pushed through it and once she was close enough, she dropped her transformation discreetly and walked into the building. 

"Thank you master Fu. Without you I wouldn't have been able to pull it off I don't think." she told him with a small smile, her hand stretching to hand him the small miraculous box and she placed it in his smaller one. He watched carefully with a smile on his face, his hand retracting to put the box back into it's designated hiding spot. 

"I trust that with or without a partner today, you would have prevailed as victorious." he told her in honesty and Marinette would be lying if she said she wasn't flattered from his words and for the second time that day, she began to exit the building and bid her farewells to her guardian. 

On her way home, the usual light warm air of the city seemed more bleak than it should be, even with her miraculous cure fixing everything, everything for her still felt tattered and wrong. She was dreading having to go back home and seeing the white ghostly figure on her chaise but she knew avoiding it didn't mean it would go away, no matter how badly she wanted it to.

Walking into the bakery and seeing her parents went about as good as it could've given their daughter was screaming late at night and crying until early in the morning but she reassured them that it was only a scary movie that she and Alya watched and the crying was caused from a bad dream. She also had to explain the reason for her absence but she insisted she had been working all day and was just getting home. The only thing they could do for the moment was reluctantly acknowledge that it couldn't be anything else and they let their daughter solemnly walk back into their apartment. 

The atmosphere of the living room and kitchenette were bleaker than she remembered and suddenly she was rummaging through the fridge and washing dishes to finally stall on the inevitable of seeing her real-life nightmare in her room. After vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, re-washing little smudges on certain dishes, washing clothes already washed and then taking out the trash, she finally accepted her exhaustion and decided to begrudgingly head up to her room. Tikki stayed in her purse knowing that in case of a mental breakdown, she didn't get in Marinette's path of destruction again. There was a hesitation in her movement to open her latch and her hand shakily waited for a cue, a sign, something to tell her to do it now and get it over with rather than be terrified to do it. 

She counted to ten, let out a gentle breath and sniffled back the welting tears that were already trying to leak through her eye sockets and with a gentle groan of protest, she pushed the latch open and walked into the dark room. It was already the evening and everything was illuminated by street lights or the partial sunset that bled through her closed blinds. She sighed and rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes in a feeble attempt to remove the stubborn tears from her vision but they continued to blur her sight until she came to an oddly shocking realization. 

Why was her room so... clean?

She had a colossal temper tantrum the night prior, she remembers that, slept until the evening without cleaning a speck of it and her parents were working all day. 

"Tikki.. did you.. magically clean my room when Lucky Charm was used?" she whispered quietly into her purse and when she was given a quiet 'no' as a response, her heart began hammering in her chest out of fear. She quickly ran over to her chaise and gasped when she pulled the sheets down to see an empty sofa with a single snow globe in the center.

She clutched her chest and breathed heavily when a hard thump emerged from her balcony, causing her to grab the deadliest thing she could which, at the moment, was a pair of scissors and she slowly made her way up the stairs to the balcony but not before leaving her handbag on the bed to keep Tikki safe. At least if she died too, her kwami would be able to try and find a way to revive Plagg and find a new duo. She kept the scissors behind her back as she opened her balcony door slowly and as silently as she possibly could, a few other thumps and swishes becoming more audible nor that she had open access to the area and once she emerged it was quiet. 

Marinette was slowly walking along the terrace, with scissors at guard before she heard something bang from behind her and her vision was black but before she could let the odd pair of lips at her ear say anything, she whipped around and thrusted her arm out as hard as she could in an attempt to impale the potential kidnapper/murderer. Just as she thought her hand was going to connect with skin, her arm was caught by another hand and she couldn't help but worry about the next moments in time that could potentially leave her loved ones crying the way she was last night. 

The only other thing she could think of doing at the moment was one thing. 

She screamed as loud as she possibly could, her throat ripping up and her chest dispelling of the negative emotions that had plagued her from last night and she let herself break sound barriers she wasn't even aware of before the hand that held the scissors covered her mouth.

"No no, wait, shit." the person said and she took that moment to sweep her feet back skillfully to knock them down and once she accomplished her mission, she rubbed the blur from her eyes and pointed her weapon down at them while she stood over...

"Looks like you've bested me.. huh princess?" Chat said with a nervous grin on his lips and an anxious filled giggle left with it.

Marinette's eyes shot wide open and she continued to rub and blink an sputter until she could only gasp in disbelief. This had to be some disgustingly cruel joke or a terrible nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare. 

"N-now I know you're probably confused but I-" 

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Are you.. S-some sort of akuma. Is this a prank. Oh my god." she rambled, backing away from him as, the man who was supposed to be a ghost, slowly rose to his feet. He looked so real, too real. Like he wasn't just a pale piece of meat on her annoyingly blood soaked furniture a few hours ago. Like he wasn't just.. gone!

"What? N-no! It's me Mari, it's your Ch-"

"No! M..My Chat died last night in MY room. What.. I." her heart was racing as he slowly inched towards her, her feet continuing to back pedal until the small of her back hit the railing, her eyes moving momentarily to look at the metal separating her from escape and mental catastrophe.

In her state of distraction, the malevolent undead man finally put his hands on both of her arms, holding her in place as if she could jump but he was her anchor. She didn't know what to do next, her eyes were blown in horror and her entire body shook violently with each moment he lingered until he finally put her head to his chest and held onto her like a lifeline. Her mind was no match for her tear ducts as they let go of the sea that pleaded to escape captivity. She was aching for this.

"Hear that?" he asked with certainty, a calculated breath following his question and she dropped the scissors when she realized what he was asking her.

His heartbeat. He was breathing and alive and completely real. He was here.

She gripped onto him like her life depended on it and she was certain he was the only thing holding her up right now. She wanted to hit him, sob, laugh, galavant and pray she wasn't sleeping. She couldn't believe her eyes, her hands, her nose. It felt like every sense was betraying her in the moment and insisting to believe he was here. 

"What I wouldn't give to have you breathe for me again." he whispered gently and that's how she knew.

He was alive.

He was alive.

He was alive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHA JUST KIDDING YALL WE BACK IN BUSINESS


End file.
